Reflections: Part One
by Yumi Saruwatari
Summary: P a s s i o n... I am here. [[Riku x OC]] Follows KH original plot.
1. The Beginning

All I can say is: Don't flame me!

Edit/ Fixed this chapter.

**_Disclaimer:_** I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any other animes/video games I mention in here. I may have bought some to play, but no, I don't own the rights to them. Oh poopy. Same thing goes with the songs. I don't really own anything except for my fish, Moshi (He really owns me though). This isn't even my computer.

_**Chapter One: The Beginning**_

"_Look at me, you may think you see who I really am, but you'll never know me. Everyday, it's as if I play a part. Now I see, if I wear a mask I can fool the world, but I cannot fool my heart. Who is that girl I see? Staring straight back at me? When will my reflection show who I am inside?"  
_  
I laid on my bed listening to a soft murmur of Jpop while reading a magazine. I knew I should have been asleep or studying for my exam coming up, but noooo. The inevitable would occur; I was going to fail that math test. Heck, I always fail. And anyway, I'd rather sit around and draw or read. I felt my legs getting cold, so I pulled my blanket over them. Stupid big room, always so damn cold. I looked at my clock on the wooden shelf I had made in Tech Ed. It was 1 AM. "So much for getting enough sleep." I muttered, setting the mag down. I got out of bed and fiddled around for my CD player to listen to some music to fall asleep to. Jazzmin, my dog, jumped up onto the end of my bed and got settled. As I turned off the light and crawled into bed, I had a strange unsettling feeling about the next day, which I brushed off. _You're prolly just nervous about the test..._I thought as I drifted off.

My name is Passion and I go to school, like a good kid. I get good grades and I'm in all above grade level classes, like a good kid. I get along with all my teachers, like a good kid. I'm a cheerleader, but not the common stereotype. I play tons of sports and I rock at swimming. I have plenty of friends who all love me and keep me safe. I'm pretty easy going and well rounded. I have my fair share of problems, such as a dysfunctional family, but I mean, who doesn't? Blah blah blah blah blah. On the outside, my accomplishments look really good and I seem like a good person (I guess), but I always feel a sort of tugging on the inside, like I'm missing something important.

Sometimes, when I look in the mirror, I don't even realize that I'm looking at myself. I feel like a different person looking at a stranger. Some people say that I'm deep because of how I think and what I question, but I'm only questioning things that make me feel... I don't know. It's like, my name for instance. Aren't names only labels we use to identify people? It's no different then calling a soup can, a soup can. But we put such a sentimental value on our names. It's kinda weird.

_**At school**_

I scribbled down some of the class work on a sheet of paper. I was almost down our routine warm up. Routine... That's what everyday was like. Same old same. I wanted to break out of it...somehow. I was done, so I set down my pencil. Pam was, of course, done before me.

Pam is one of my closest friends. I met her at IMS in the 6th grade. I was new because we had just moved. We didn't exactly get along, but when we were forced to go to a new middle school (our neighborhood was redistricted) in the 7th grade, we kinda clicked and became the best of friends. Pam is in all above level classes, just like me. She has dirty blonde/light brown hair and light brown eyes, almost honey in color, which usually hid behind glasses (unless she was 'cured' magically like on some days). Pamela was extremely studious and nearly never failed a test.

"Okay students, time to go over your work." My teacher began talking. I yawned. This is such a long day... I opened up to a blank sheet of paper in my notebook and began to draw. Screw listening, I never pay attention anyway. After about five minutes, I was bored with drawing (ADD?), so I began going through my folder. After flipping through a few pages advertising summer school programs and criteria lists, I found a green sheet of paper. It looked like a permission slip for a field trip, but wasn't in our schools name. Hmmm, I skimmed it and found it was about some 2 day trip to a museum and tour in DC for a select few people. It was no charge and a bus would be here in two daysat 6 PM to pick us up. The letter even had a pass for missed class on it. Something seemed a little weird about this, so I decided that after class I'd ask Pam, Carolyn, and Amber if they'd gotten one. As I put the form back into my folder, I looked at my teacher. Big mistake. If you make eye contact with a teacher, they will call on you. Good thing I knew the answer...

At lunch that day, I sat with Pam and Carolyn outside. Once our group had semi left, I pulled out the green sheet.

"Did you guys get this? I never remember getting it, but apparently it's for me and was in my folder." Amber picked it up and began reading the document. Amber is a genius child. She is in math that is like, 4 above her grade level. Of course, she's Chinese so it fit's the whole stereotype (which I teased her for frequently). Amber is extremely funny and sarcastic. I met her back at IMS, but I had known her in the first grade. She was such a cutie pie as a child and now had that whole, 'Cool Asian' look going on.

"Yeah, I remember getting something like this. I threw it out though." she said, tweaking her glasses.

"Lemme readdddd!" Carolyn said, taking the paper from Amber. Her eyes darted quickly across the page and she did a few small jumps. "We should go! I think I still have mine!" she said, setting the paper on the table. I had met Carolyn at IMS also. She and Pam had been friends for a while before I came in 6th grade. Carolyn was very upbeat and fun to be around and, like all my friends, she was gorgeous. She had short chestnut hair and medium brown eyes. She used to wear glasses back at IMS, but now she wore contacts.

Pam slowly picked up the paper and began to read it. "I doubt my parents would ever let me go though, plus I have to baby-sit."

"Pssht." I said, "You have to go. Mine probably won't either, but like, beg them." I stood up and faced everyone. "Let's all make a resolution to go and have an adventure!" I said, pumping my fist in the air. "We could sure enough use a two day vacation. It'll be great..." All of them nodded.

"Let's do this; it's time to break away from routine!" Carolyn said.

"Yeah, fight the man!" Amber exclaimed, causing us to look at her. "I mean, uh, yeah! No routine! Whooo..." Laughter bubbled up from our group as we made a promise to take this small trip.

_**The Next Day**_

I arrived at school a little early and headed to my locker. It hadn't been hard, surprisingly, the night before trying to get my parents to let me go. They just say yes, which never happened... I had also called Lisa, to fill her in on what we were doing. She went to a different school, but I had met her at UMS, the middle school I had been redistricted to. Lisa was Chinese and had perfect black hair; an extremely attractive exotic look. She was calm at times, but made the funniest expressions. Whenever I felt down, I knew I could turn to her. As it turned out, she had gotten the exact same thing and was going. She had been the only person at the school to receive one as far as we knew. I brushed it off as a coincidence.

Carolyn, Amber, and Pam were already at the lockers. They all had both hands behind their backs. "Did you guys ask your parents?" I asked, hoping they all could do it.

"Yep." They said in unison.

"And...?" They all smiled and revealed what they had been holding; the passes to leave class. "YAY!" We were all going, I hoped that it would be an adventure...

* * *

Short short short, I know. The next chapter will have some action in it, I promise. And by the 3rd chapter, KH will come into play. 


	2. A Destiny Unfolds

Thanks, reviewers! I promise to make this chapter extra spiffy.

**Disclaimer:** I'm not god. Sorry****

**_Chapter 2: A Destiny Unfolds_**

We sat on one of the benches near the bus loop, waiting for the bus to arrive. Each of us had brought one bag and spending money. Oddly, we were the only ones there. Our stuff lay on the cement at our feet and the sun was beginning to set. The bus was already twelve minutes late.

"Maybe we got the date wrong?" Pam suggested. Amber shook her head.

"The office confirmed it was today, so it should be coming." she said.

"Yeah and I checked like, five times on the sheet." Lisa commented. I shrugged.

"That bus better get here damn soon then." I said, "It's getting dark."

"I wonder where we'll be staying...?" Just as Carolyn said that, we saw a coach bus pull into the main driveway of our school and head toward us. We all talked with utter joy in our voices as it pulled up toward us. The bus came to a complete halt and opened up the doors. One by one, we loaded on toward the back. I glanced at the driver as I passed him. He looked to be about 25 and had light brown hair. His eyes were a very light brown and he wore a spiffy looking dark brown jacket. We walked to the back middle of the bus and all picked seats. I got a window seat and sat with Lisa. Pamela sat across from us. Amber and Carolyn sat behind her

"You ladies ready?" he asked, smiling back at us. We nodded and he pulled off.

About 25 minutes into the drive, we were still talking rapidly, playing games like hangman, and drawing. We were all pretty much sitting as far as we could out of our seats to reach each other. After I lost another game of hangman to Amber, I leaned on my elbow and looked out the window. It was pretty dark, but I could see that we were going over a bridge. It was decently long, I guessed. Off in the distance, I saw twin lights approaching us. _They look like ones from a vehicle..._ Every second, they got a little bit closer.

"Hey guys, what the heck is going on outside?" I said, pointing to the lights approaching us.

"A... Monster!" Pamela said, shaking her hands and causing a few bursts of laughter. Everyone went back to drawing or playing games. Pamela looked up at me and we started talking about school and hot guys.

"Yeah, I'd totally do Johnny Depp. I don't care if he's three times my age, he is hot." I said, smiling.

"Oh my god." Pam said, pointing past me and at the window. I turned back to look out it, expecting to see city lights. Instead, we were still over the bridge. The lights looked about 30 feet away from us and coming full force. What the hell was going on?

"Driver!" I shouted. No one answered. "DRIVER?" Again, no answer. Carolyn stood up and looked down the aisle.

"No one's driving! SHITTTTT!" She yelled. At this point, the lights were about 10 feet away. It was too late to try anything. Somehow, we found each other's hands and held on. I closed my eyes and prepared for the object to impact. And then, everything became white.

_**Unknown Time Later**_

I woke up in a white room. The silence was heavy and I appeared to be the only one in here. "Aww, am I dead? Gosh this sucks. I knew I would die a virgin." I sat up and stretched. "Owwww." I said. My foot had fallen asleep. I put my right hand over my heart and felt it beating. Wait... so I wasn't dead? Then, where was I? There didn't seem to be any walls, everything was just white. And I was alone.

"Hello!" I called out. No one answered. I was alone. I stood up and walked forward. "Hello? Is anyone here?" I called while walking. No answer. I was alone. Alone. My pace quickened as I began to panic. "Lisa! Pam! Carolyn! Amber! Where are you guys?" I dropped to my knees and hit the ground with my fists.

As I looked into the distance, I saw the scenery changing. The light seemed to be melting away and I saw complete darkness. Farther off into the darkness, I saw another orb of light. It seemed to be floating. I stood up and walked to the edge of the light. I placed my foot just outside the light and lowered it slightly, looking for a surface to step onto. The darkness under my foot rippled, as if my foot were a drop of rain falling onto the still surface of a lake. Light grey surfaced appeared and formed a pathway, leading to the next orb. I stepped out of my light and ran down the path.

As I approached it, I could see a figure inside seemingly asleep. I placed one hand on the orb and again the rain drop effect happened. It 'unfolded', revealing Lisa in the middle. She sat up slowly, with her eyes closed rubbing her head.

"Lisa!" I exclaimed. "I'm so glad you're okay!" I ran over to her and gave her a big hug.

"Where is everyone else?" She asked. I shook my head.

"I don't know..." I looked at my feet. She turned around and took in the landscape.

"What have we gotten ourselves into...?"

We continued walking down the path, not knowing the time or how it was passing us by. Another light appeared in the far off distance. "Come one." I said, "We need to get to that next orb, someone's probably in it." Lisa nodded and we took off in a run. As we got closer to the orb, the path suddenly dropped off. We stood near the edge, about ten feet away from it. Inside the orb, I could see another figure.

"There's no way we can reach her..." Lisa said. I turned around and began walking away from the orb. "Passion, we can't just leave her!" I stopped and pivoted on my right foot to turn around. I crouched in a runner's position. "Aww wait! You can't jump it!" Too late, I had already taken off and was headed full force toward the orb. I jumped off the edge and reached toward the orb. My index finger had just barely touched it when it exploded with light, forcing me backward and onto the path. The orb unfolded and Pam rolled out. Past her, I could see the path went on further and that the orb helped to form a bridge across the gap between the two paths.

We all hugged, happy to see each other. "Where are Amber and Carolyn?" she asked suddenly noticing that they were not here.

"We're looking for them." I said, "And we will find them." I said this, partly to assure myself, but...

"How are we going to get out of here?" Pam quietly asked, sensing the aura of uneasiness that settled around us.

"I... I don't know." I responded. "But together, we'll be okay." Lisa nodded with a smile.

"Anything's possible if we stay together."

It seemed as if we had been walking forever down that winding grey path. Things were beginning to seem hopeless. There was no light in sight, no sign of the others...

"So, how'd you guys get out of your orbs?" Pam asked, breaking the silence that had settled on us.

"Passion did something, I don't know." Lisa said and they both looked at me.

"Hey, I only touched your orb and it opened up. The side rippled, just like Pam's." I shrugged. "I think it's safe to say we're not in Kansas anymore."

"We were never in Kansas..." Lisa stated.

"Yeah well, we're sure enough not in it now."

"Wait, Passion, how'd you get out of yours?" Pamela asked. I looked at them.

"I don't know, the sides just kind of evaporated and then when I stuck my foot out, this path appeared."

"That's whack." Pam said.

"Wickedy wack." Lisa said, in a very funny voice, causing us to laugh. As the path continued, we came to two orbs touching at the sides. I figured that this was where everyone else was. I stepped forward and touched the first orb with my right hand and the orb next to it with my left. There was a slight ripple, but they didn't open. I heard Lisa shout behind me.

"Something's coming!" Immediately, I turned around to face them. Deformed figures were making their way toward us, masses of them.

"Passion, hurry up and open the orbs!" Pam shouted to me.

"I can't! They won't respond!"

"What?"

"I don't know, they just won't open!" The figures were almost upon us. I stood in-between Pam and Lisa.

"This is hopeless." Lisa said, as the figures had just about surrounded us. I grabbed both of their hands.

"Nothing is hopeless as long as we are together." One of the figures leaped at me and was pushed back by a semi shield that had formed around us. We all glowed a shimmery color. "We can do this..." I said, feeling a power bubble up inside of me that I had never felt before. It felt as if all my emotions were trying to get out; love, hate, need, loneliness, sadness, insecurity, happiness, anger, frustration, calm, all attempting to break through my surface. I took a deep breath and let go of their hands. Something formed in my hands and I grabbed a hold of it. I looked at Lisa and Pam and saw that they too were holding objects surrounded in light.

One of the larger figures, an obese looking one, jumped at us. I lunged forward and sliced through it with my object. It had now appeared to reveal itself as a sword with a key at the end. Several of the smaller ones were about to attack Pam. She shot through them with an arrow engraved with flowers. Her bow was beautiful, it had one long pink flower extending up the wooden part of the bow. She fired a few more shots at the figures that were trying to attack her.

Lisa held two dagger-like objects that had curved blades and spikes around circle surrounding the handle. A brilliant flame was painted on each dagger. Lisa spun around and became a 'whirlwind of death' as she plowed through the figures of dark. Another big one came at me and I jumped into the air and came down on its head. It stumbled back and then hit me with its fist. I fell back and then pointed my blade at it.

"Fire!" I yelled, causing a burst of flame to shoot at it. _Whoah awesome! Me make big fire! _The creature burst into flame and disappeared, dropping green orbs. I touched one and watched as it absorbed into my skin, making me feel better and getting rid of my bruises. The majority of the monsters had been destroyed, the rest disappeared into portals of dark purple.

"What. The. Hell." Pam said, examining her bow.

"This is..." I said, looking around at them, "SO COOL." We all jumped and gave each other high fives.

"Hey, we still need to get Carolyn, Amber, and Emily out of the orbs..." Lisa said, turning to the orbs of light that we had neglected up until this point.

"Yeah, but they're not responding to my touch..." I said, looking at my blade. "I wonder... Guys, point your weapons at the orbs." When I had touched each of the orbs before, I got a feeling similar to the one I got when the sword first appeared. I reasoned that the more powerful feeling I got with my blade along with the combined power of Lisa and Pam would open the orbs. They nodded and stood next to me. As we pointed our objects, light came out and combined to form one large stream that made contact with the orbs. They burst and we were engulfed in light.

* * *

Next chapter will be bigger, I promise! Please R and R! Lots of love 


	3. Together

Hopefully I'll have KH in this chapter, it depends how far I get though. It's difficult because I'm redoing my first version, sooo yeah...

Haha, I just had this up and then I realized I wanted to add more to the chapter. xP Edit/ I changed it again! But mostly just a little in the beginning and ending. :)

**_Disclaimer:_** I have yet to take over the world.

_**Chapter 3: Together  
**  
"Like an echo pedal, you're repeating yourself / You know it all by heart / Why are you standing in one place / Born to blossom, bloom to perish / Your moment will run out / Cause of your sex chromosome / I know it's so messed up, how our society all thinks (for sure) / Life is short, you're capable / Look at your watch now / You're still a super hot female / You got your million-dollar contract / And they're all waiting for your hot track"_

I could feel myself falling through this stream of light and dark. Images began to flash in my head. I saw a woman in a white gown playing with a young child in a field of tall grass. This image snapped away quickly to reveal a ballroom in a palace having a masked ball. A teenager, anywhere from 16-19 dancing in a long flowing dress adorned with wings and feathers. She wore a white mask to match her dress. Another image appeared with the same girl, this time no mask. She was still wearing the dress, but appeared to be on a balcony star gazing. Her brown hair fluttered in the breeze. She turned and looked past me, smiling. A guy stepped into view and took hold of her hand. I opened my eyes and was immediately pulled out of it.

I was no longer in the tunnel of darkness, but sitting on a bed. The room I was in looked like an apartment. There was a bathroom and a dresser on the left side of the room. On the right side there was the bed and further down toward the wall was a table with some flowers and a note on it. I got out of the bed, noticing that my sword was missing. I shrugged internally and walked to the table. I examined the note, not recognizing the handwriting. It read:

_Passion,_

_Welcome to my ship. Please make yourself at home. I am very sorry for inconveniencing you on the bus, but it was the only way I could keep ya'll safe. When you are ready to talk, exit your room and make your way to the bridge. Thank you!_

There was no signature. "Pssht, figures." I said, walking into the bathroom to check my hair. I wasn't about to walk out with my curls looking frazzled and my eyeliner smeared. I looked at my brown curls in the mirror, noticing that only a few pieces were out of place. I turned on the sink and let the water run into my hands. After they were slightly soaked, I ran them through my hair to tame it. Luckily, the little bit of liner I was wearing hadn't smeared, so I dried my hands and noticed something strange was dangling from my neck. Attached to a silver chain was a silver crescent with a star resting on it. I had never seen this before, but it didn't worry me too much. "Plus it's cute, "I told myself while I exited the bathroom.

I stood in front of the door that led out of this room. I didn't know what I would see when I opened it, but I couldn't stay in here forever. "Suck it up." I told myself while I pressed the button next to the door. It slid open and revealed a brightly lit hallway. The hallway was lined with a few other rooms, all of the doors identical to mine. The walls were a light teal colored metal lined with a strip of white metal. I walked down the hallway and saw a girl who looked about ten with mid-length purple hair and big purple eyes. She wore something that looked like a pink jumpsuit with a purple skirt and collar. It was buttoned down the front with purple and pink buttons. She was adorable.

"Um, do you know where the bridge is?" I asked.

"Yes, go down this hallway," she pointed to her right," and in the elevator. It'll take you to the bridge." She smiled cheerfully.

"Thank you so much!" I said, wanting to squeeze her. Gosh I love cute kids.

"No problem!" I continued down the hall and stopped at a clear tube with doors. _Maybe this is the elevator?_ There were buttons on a side panel. I clicked the one labeled bridge. The doors opened and I stepped in. As soon as the doors were fully closed, the elevator I was in zoomed up, traveling about thirty times faster than what I was used to. In about five seconds, it had come to a complete stop and the doors opened. I walked out dazed and a little dizzy. The whole front of the room was one big, curved window. I saw out of it and into space. Stars sparkled brightly as we passed them. There were a few seats facing monitors in here and one big seat with objects used to steer this.

"I see you didn't have much trouble finding your way here." said a male voice from one of the chairs near a monitor. I approached it.

"No, not really. Where are my friends?" I demanded, politely of course.

"Still sleeping probably." Whoever was in the chair turned to face me. I looked him over. _Brown hair, light brown eyes...jacket... Oh my god, it's the bus driver!_

"It's you!" I exclaimed. He nodded.

"I bet you're wondering why you all are here..." He explained that it seemed Lisa, Pam and I all were holders of special objects and inner powers. Pam had a Flowerrow, Lisa had Flameblades, and I had a Keyblade. Each did something special that we would have to find out for ourselves. We were apart of some group that were elite when it came to magic. Our untapped powers could destroy galaxies. He said he wasn't sure why Carolyn and Amber had been chosen to come, but that they probably had something needed in them that they would discover soon. The letters that had been sent to us came from him as an excuse to get us out of Earth ASAP without any questions asked. We were needed for reasons he didn't know yet. He had been asked to find us so we could save the worlds that were being destroyed by darkness.

"Wait, won't they worry about us on Earth? We'll be gone for more than two days-"

"It's been a week already. And Earth was destroyed about ten hours after you guys left." I felt myself go numb.

"Wh-what? No, it can't be gone."

"The darkness must have had already been building up inside of it. It couldn't be helped, the darkness consumed it." I looked to the floor. My family, friends, all those people...

"Are they..." I couldn't finish the sentence.

"No, they aren't dead. Some may have escaped the darkness and are in a different world now. Others... well, we aren't exactly sure what happens to them. Those things you saw earlier when you were in darkness, those are called Heartless. They are what help to destroy worlds by getting into the heart of the world. They consume the darkness inside of a heart of a person, which turns them into a Heartless." He explained that the worlds all used to be connected in some way. After a struggle for the light, they all became separated and shields were put up to protect them from the Heartless. The shields had been destroyed years back, allowing things to enter.

"So, what am I supposed to do?"

"Find that out for yourself. For now, go wake up your friends. Explain to them what is going on. In the cargo hold are two smaller ships, one for attacking and one ya'll can use to travel together. The one for attacking can only fit one person though and can be kept inside the traveling one. Ya'll can have them to travel."

"Thank you so much!"

"Your welcome. Just remember, you need to protect world order. Don't reveal too much information about the outside worlds to those who know nothing about them. Good luck," He nodded at me and I turned to leave.

"Wait, I have to ask you something." I said stopping suddenly.

"Go ahead."

"What is your name and how old are you?" Now that I looked at him more, he looked younger than 25. _Maybe 20?_

"The name's Saeya and I'm 17." _Haha you suck at guessing ages._

"Thank you very much Saeya!" I pressed the elevator and went back to the Cabin Quarters that I had been in. I followed the hall back to the area that I had previously been in. I went into the room next to mine. The set up in it was identical to mine and the bed looked slept in. However, no one was in here. I sighed and exited it. Then, I went into the one across from it. Same story.

"Rawr, where'd they go?" I went into the room that was across from mine. There they were, seated around the table in this room.

"It's Passion!" Carolyn chirped, running to give me a hug. "Pam and Lisa just finished explaining what happened. Wow." I nodded.

"Yeah, and I just got from talking to the captain of this ship." I summarized what Saeya had told me. "So, we'd better get busy saving the worlds!"

"Aww, I wish we had special stuff too...!" Carolyn mumbled.

"You will, I'm sure of it. Just wait and see. For now, let's get down to our ships and leave. We need to start our adventure." They nodded and we left the room.

_**Cargo Hold**_

Once in the Cargo Hold, we walked to the medium sized ship. It was wicked looking, black and blue with streaks of silver. The front was rounded and each side had four spikes along the side pointing to the back. The back of the ship had a tail-like structure with two huge engines on it.

"AWESOME!" Carolyn exclaimed. She touched one of the spikes.

"This is so gangster." I commented, walking around the other side. As I got there, a part of it opened up, which I guessed was the entrance. "C'mon guys, let's start our adventure!" I said and entered.

Inside the ship were four rooms, each with two beds, a bathroom, and a dresser. Carolyn explored each of these rooms, finding our stuff from the bus already in there. The hallway carpet was teal and the walls were off white. There was an elevator that took you to the Bridge, Cargo Hold, or Bar. The bar/kitchen area was stocked fully and set up very adorably. There were clear tubes full of water that changed color and bubbles that constantly floated up. The flooring was a white marble with a black swirl and light brown counter tops. Pam and Lisa hung out in here, looking through the food supplies and drooling over the brownies that were in the fridge.

Amber and I went up to the Bridge. The set up was similar to that of the bridge in the Saeya's ship, but the floors were purple, the walls were black, and the seats/monitors were silver. Amber walked up to one screen and ran her hand over the top.

"This is so new. Wow. Hey, I'm going to fool around with this for a while, okay?" she said, taking a seat.

"By all means, you may as well fool around with something other than me." I winked at her and she stuck her tongue out at me. "You know you want me." I said, putting one hand on my hip.

"Oh yeah, duh." she responded, turning on the monitor. Messing around with Amber was always fun. I went back to the elevator and selected the Cargo Hold.

Once down there, I examined the fighter ship. It was a blood red color, with one large black line going down each side. It had a pair of wings and two engines on the back. On each wing and the top of the ship were cannons. They two on the wings were black, but the one on the very top was black and red and had a cone-like shape. The front had a dome-like clear structure over the pilot seat and controls. There wasn't very much else on the ship. It was extremely small.

I walked to the front of the ship and automatically the dome popped open. "Oh, this must be the way to get in.." I muttered to myself, lifting my left leg over the front and getting in. As I sat down in the driver's seat, I noticed all of the gadgets located in front of me. There were several buttons and switches, labeled like : 'CannonR', 'CannonL', 'CannonT', 'Shield', 'Boost', etc. There was one of those joy stick things used to steer and on the right side of the ship was a screen which I guessed kept me in contact with the bigger ship. I got out of the cockpit of the ship and decided to head to the Cabin Area.

I found that Carolyn and Pam had picked their rooms. They had chosen ones that were next to each other on the right side of the hallway. Pam didn't mention who she was sharing her room with, plus hers was the smallest so I assumed she would be there alone. Carolyn said Amber requested to share a room with her. This left the other two rooms open. I wondered if Lisa and I would share a room or if we would be in separate ones. I decided to put my bag in one of the rooms anyway. I brought it to the room closest to the elevator and threw it on a bed on the left side of the room. I didn't unpack it, though. Instead, I just layed down next to it and stared at the ceiling.

Letting the information sink in was something that didn't occur until now. Earth was gone. My family was gone. My pets were gone. My friends were gone. My house, my city, my world... just gone. And I couldn't have helped them. I felt one tear fall out of the corner my eye. _No need to cry, _I told myself, _just like Saeya said, some are scattered throughout the worlds._ I hoped that everyone was okay, but then I realized that I needed to focus on saving other worlds from the same fate. _But, how? How can I do things to help other people when I don't even know how to handle myself? I just feel so empty inside, like I'm missing something... _I sighed and sat up. Contemplating when I knew so little would be pointless and I knew that. I unzipped my large bag and fiddled around looking for my CD player. I felt my hands come in contact with a sheet of paper. I didn't recall putting any paper in the main compartment of my bag, so I pulled it out and examined it.

The handwriting was the same as the letter I had found when I woke up in Saeya's ship. I figured that he had slipped it into my bag sometime while I was sleeping. It was written to me and described something called TDS. TDS stood for Third Dimension Space, which was pretty much an area that extra things were put for storage. It could be accessed virtually anywhere at any time. He had rented a TDS for each of us and already stored some needed items in it. On the paper he listed each of those items; a holograph ring to use to store pictures and movement, a communication module (similar to a cell phone) to keep us in touch, a transformer for disguises, a data absorber bracelet (he said that he wasn't sure exactly what it did, so we should mess around with it to figure it out), an energy scanner (when turned on, it appeared as a transparent light blue screen across the eyes with readings in red), a list of basic spells, 30 potions each, accessories to protect us during battle, a sphere recorder notebook thing that would chart our travels (called a CompAnian), several outfits, sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, 5000 munny, and various other things we would find useful. I was in awe, how could he afford to give all those things to us? Also in the letter were directions to opening our TDS. It was relatively easy and just involved calling forth energy into our finger tips and drawing a symbol of our choice in the air. I decided to set mine as a P and L combined into one letter after my favorite Sailor Scout identity, Sailor Pluto. To store items, we do that, but smaller and on the object.

"Hey guys!" I heard Amber's voice coming from a speaker above, "Please come and meet me in the Bridge! Thank you!" I decided to bring the letter with me to share it with the others.

I was the last person to get to the Bridge. Amber sat in the same chair she had been in when I had last seen her. Carolyn and Pam stood near her. Lisa was seated in a chair which was right next to Amber. "Hey guys." I greeted walking forward, "What's up?"

"I was just getting to that." Amber turned in her chair to face the monitor. "I've been working on learning the controls to this ship and I've found that it's extra easy to use." Amber explained how to start the ship, work the loud speaker, and steer. The ship could go on auto pilot when navigating to places it had been. If not, then two people were needed to steer it. This ship had no weapons, but it did have a very strong shield. When needed, the smaller fighter ship could be deployed. "If you guys want, we can leave now..." Everyone nodded vigorously.

"How can we tell which way to go?" Lisa asked, making a very good point. Amber pulled up a huge semi transparent screen.

"This has a list of all the worlds in our vicinity. They are currently labeled as unknown because we haven't been there yet. Once visited, a mini display will be available."

"Oh, that makes sense." I said. "Oh and by the way, everyone needs to read this after we depart." I held up the paper and waved it a little. "It's from Saeya." I handed the paper to Pam. At that moment, Amber phoned the Main Ship and had them open up to let us out. I told them that I was going to go to bed and that they could finish reading the letter.

As we embarked on our journey, I gazed into the depth of space, wondering where we'd go and who we'd meet. Back in my room, I set up my bed and took out one of the magazines I had brought. Looking at it, I felt as if it had been years since I left Earth. Was it really only seven days ago we stepped onto that bus? I heard the door to my room slide open and in stepped Pam.

"Hey, " I greeted. "Didja read the letter?" She nodded. "Awesomeness. What's your symbol?" Pam smiled.

"Guess." Oh fun, a guessing game (which I usually suck at).

"Um, a bunny?" I guessed, thinking she'd chose an animal.

"No..."

"A flower?"

"Nope!"

"A peach?"

"Why would I choose a peach?" She gave me an odd look.

"I don't know, you told me to guess! And why not a peach?" I shrugged. "Go ahead and tell me, you know I'll never guess."

"The symbol for... Sailor Ceres!" I gave her a huge smile.

"Oh my god, I picked the one for Sailor Pluto! WE CAN BE TWINS!"

"Yeah!" We went to give each other a high five and missed. _Oh yeah, we're so cool. _Lisa walked in carrying her bag. I guess I wouldn't have to room alone after all!

"Passion, wanna share a room?" she asked, setting her bag down on the bed across from mine.

"Of course! Did you read the letter?" I wanted to know if everyone was finished it yet.

"Yep! Carolyn and Amber are still in the bridge." Lisa said, walking toward us, "That TDS thing sounds cool. I picked the symbol for Sailor Mars." Pam and I made the 'fwoooooo' noise which caused Lisa to look at us weird.

"I picked the symbol for Sailor Pluto and Pam picked Ceres. We're all like, twins!" I pumped my fist into the air.

"Uh, you mean triplets?" Lisa said, poking me.

"Sure!" I realized at that moment that I wouldn't have to worry about what future lie ahead for me. As long as I was with my friends, things would be okay.

_**One Week Later**_

It had been a week since our journey had started and we'd already been to eight worlds. Each one gave us new information on just what exactly we were doing. Lisa, Pam, and I had gained many new abilities in the short time we had been out. Carolyn and Amber still hadn't unlocked any powers, but I didn't doubt that they would. I knew that something was holding them back for now. We all began to gain a reputation as heroes, which was fine by me.

The world that we had just left was very city like, a good comparison would be Tokyo. It was called Zxeaphon. When I was there, I received a call on my special cell. It didn't recognize the number, but I answered it anyway. The anonymous caller said they had heard about me and called to warn me about a few leaders of the darkness that were after me. They said to take special care of my power and that I held a dangerous gift. I figured it was some kind of prank call to scare me, so I didn't pay very much attention to what they were saying.

The only thing that worried me was the power I had yet fully mastered. I had been alone during a battle with a boss heartless on Zxeaphon when I used a power I wasn't used to. It had knocked my Keyblade out of my hand, pinned me against a wall and became summoning a large quantity of power to its hand. Suddenly, I felt a tremendous power surge from inside of me. It wasn't the same light power I had felt when I first unlocked the light orbs. This one felt heavier and more...consuming I think? It burst out from me in a dark purple mass. The heartless was knocked across the room and exploded. I had never felt power like that before and it scared me. When I went to pick up my Keyblade, it had changed form. It usually had a light purple handle with a black grip, a silver shaft, an end key that had a tiara shape, and a key chain that was a silver crescent moon with a star resting in it. It had changed so that the shaft was skinnier and black, the end key was in the shape of a sharp pointy heart, the base before the handle had a red gem, the handle was blood red, and the keychain was now a black crescent with a red star resting in it. I worried that the others may question what happened to it, so I put it away. I decided not to mention the phone call or the battle to anyone.

On top of that, every night that week I'd have a dream about the girl I had seen when I was in the tunnel of darkness. She looked oddly familiar, but I couldn't quite put my finger on where I'd seen her. Each night the dreams were shorter, but seemed to have more meaning. They had started with just a day in her life, or so it seemed, and they had begun to develop into a war. The night before, the dream had only a short clip of her putting on gloves and donning a helmet for battle. It seemed she was some type of royalty or high class because she had been forbade(well, that's what it looked like) in the dream the night before to enter the armory.

I swirled my spoon around in the tea I had been drinking. There was really nothing to worry about, so I should just forget about it. Dreams are completely subconscious, so I reasoned I was just going slightly insane because of stress.

"We have a problem! I need everyone in the bridge immediately!" Amber's voice called from the speakers. I wondered what was up and dashed to the elevator. I arrived at the top and, for once, I was the first one up.

"What's the problem, Amber?" I asked while walking over to her monitor. She pointed at the screen.

"We've got a huge swarm of darkness that the shield won't be able to handle. I need someone to use the attacker ship ASAP and shoot through it."

"I'll do it." I smiled, "No worries." She gave me a concerned look.

"It's really dangerous, are you sure you can take it?"

"Of course! I'll go down to the Cargo Hold and get it all ready." I began walking to the elevator. I selected the button for Cargo Hold and watched as the doors to the elevator opened.

"Passion," Amber called before I boarded it, "Be careful." I nodded and stepped into the elevator.

When I got into the attacker ship, I got one of those nervous adrenaline bursts. I dismissed it and strapped in as the top came down and locked. I turned on the engines and turned on the screen that connected this to the main ship.

"Amber, I'm all ready for deployment."

"Okay, I'm opening the hatch..." I watched as the platform I was on lowered into a secured chamber. As soon as I was closed completely in the new chamber, the bottom opened up, dropping me into space. I kicked on the engines and sped forward toward the glob of looming darkness.

I had shot through about fifty Heartless ships and evaded the majority of their attacks. Far behind me, Amber followed in the main ship. A group of Heartless fired a few rockets at me, so I barrel rolled to dodge them. I pulled up just in time to destroy them.

"Nice shot." Amber said from the screen. I smiled.

"How much more do we got, Lisa?"

"You're headed toward the exit now, they're about ten left." Lisa said, from her position at the other monitor.

"Okay! I'm going to speed it up a little." I switched each engine to full gear. A group of Heartless came at me in a row and I shot right through them. I guessed I had about four more left as I flew through some loops. After I flew through the last loop, I was attacked by the final four Heartless ships. I used a combination of rockets and cannons to destroy them.

Lisa confirmed that all Heartless were gone from radar, but the surrounding area didn't lighten. As I flew out of the last loop and into open space, I turned off my engines to come to a complete stop. Things seemed eerily still. A few yards in front of me, I saw black bubbles form.

"Lisa, are you sure there are no more left?" I asked, keeping my eyes locked on the bubbling.

"Nothing is showing up on the radar..." she responded. The bubbles suddenly burst into black smoke, creating a hole and pulling me toward it. We'd fallen into a trap!

"Shit, Amber turn around! It's a trap!" I yelled, turning on my engines. I could still get out of here if I tried.

"Passion, what's going on?" she asked. I looked behind me and saw them emerging from the loop.

"Turn around!" I could see that it would be nearly impossible for them to get out in time; the ship didn't maneuver very well. The hole was pulling things into it and I could see Heartless building inside. I had a choice, either leave them and get my ass out of there or... I inhaled deeply. Or what? How were we gonna get out of this one?

"Amber, " I calmly said, closing my eyes. _Stay calm, panicking won't help..._ "Are your shields off?" I prayed her answer would be no. If they were off, it would take too long for her to turn them back on. And then they might not make it.

"Yeah, why? What's going on up there?" I could see her concerned face in the monitor. Hadn't Lisa checked the radar? It couldn't miss something this massive.

"Look at the radar. We're about to be bombarded." No more than three seconds after I finished this sentence, Heartless ships swarmed out of the hole. I nose dived to avoid the first blast of energy aimed at my ship and glanced back at the main ship while firing my cannons at the oncoming heartless. They weren't moving or starting up the shields. "Amber! TURN ON THE SHIELDS!" I yelled into the monitor. Why weren't they doing anything?

"We're ----ing mal---------" I was getting a lot of feedback in the screen, "I can't -------. The engines are -" The screen went blank.

"Amber! Guys!" I yelled into the monitor. No response, which meantmy feed had been cut off. "Shit,"I cursed asI turned my ship around and flew as fast as I could their way. I needed to protect them from hits until they got the shields working. They were about thirty yards in front of me when my engines died. "What the fuck?" I looked at my gas meter and saw that it was no where near empty. I felt something ram into the side of my ship which slammed me against the wall. I made an attempted to fire my cannons, but they were unresponsive. It was as if my whole ship had shut off.

I noticed I was slipping backward, toward the hole. This couldn't be good. I fiddled as much as I could with the controls, trying to find out what the hell was wrong with my ship. The pull from the hole was getting increasingly stronger and I could see it looming behind me. I banged my fists on the controls and even tried a mild thunder spell to jumpstart it. The ship remained non-responsive. In front of me, I saw a spiked orange heartless ship on a course of collision with my ship. As a reflex, my hands went up to shield myself. Instead of an impact, I felt myself get thrown around as if someone were 'shaking my ship like a saltshaker'. I made an attempt to look out my window to figure out what the heck was going on. I saw I was surrounded by a blackish purple glow, meaning that I was on the edge of the hole. I was jerked back one final time when I blacked out. _Everyone... I hope they're okay... _

* * *

Kingdom Hearts will begin next chapter promptly! Please R and R every chapter if you can! 


	4. Destined Meetings

And the writing continues! If two words get squished together, blame the up-loader. I realized that, in my previous chapters, there were a lot of typos and squished words. For the most part, I fixed that. Oh, I also added some things such as descriptions and I changed the end of chapter three. It won't make a huge impact on the plot, but you may wanna read it. With that said:

**_Disclaimer:_** Contrary to popular belief, the world does not revolve around me.

**Chapter 4: Destined Meetings**

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**_"Firefly come back to me / Make the night as bright as day / I'll be looking out for you / Tell me that you're lonely too / Firefly come lead me on / Follow you into the sun / That's the way it ought to be / Firefly come back to me"_

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**

_**Sora's POV**_

I felt the sand squish under my shoe as I walked down the shore with Kairi. She was, once again, reading off a list of things I had to find or do for the raft. It wasn't like I listened the first time anyway. I glimpsed up at the warm blue sky, scattered with clouds. _I guess that means no rain tonight._

"Don't forget to get a few more logs…" Kairi was saying. The raft seemed to be all we put our time into nowadays. I secretly missed the times I spent with Riku and Kairi when we were kids. Back when life was simple. I let out a sigh and Kairi hit me in the back of the head.

"What was that for?" I asked, rubbing the back of my head. Ow, she sure hit hard.

"Pay attention, Sora. Now, Riku's getting some more shells to create the cement…." Again, my mind began to drift. I hadn't been to the Secret Spot in a while. _I should go there later today, _I thought, _once I finish my slave labor to Kairi. _"Don't forget some tree sap, we need that…." I turned my head and saw Riku sitting on the Paupo Tree above us, gazing out into the ocean. His eyes had that far away look, like he was day dreaming. _If I sneak up on him, I can push him off and into the water…_ This would even our score, especially after last time…. He had buried me in sand while I was taking a nap. It took days to get the sand out of my hair.

"Is that it, Kairi?" I asked, wanting to hurry up and get him while he was 'in the zone'. She took one final glance at her list.

"For today, yes. I'll go work on making the holes in the wood for the sail. Hurry with the supplies!"

"Okay! I'll get everything…." I grumbled, walking off to the hut. I jumped on top of it and walked across the bridge. Quietly, I approached Riku. He didn't seem to notice me, so I prepared to push him.

"Sora, don't even try." Riku said, still facing forward, "I can hear your shoes and I know you're behind me. No, I wouldn't fall if you pushed me." He turned his head to face me and stuck out his tongue. "You still sore about the sand incident?"

"I will have my revenge." I muttered, pulling out my wooden sword. "I challenge you to a duel!" Riku laughed.

"Not this again," he said as he jumped off the tree and walked around to face me. "Okay, ready?" He pulled out his wooden sword and got into fighters position. I was about to swing at him when the sky became a pinkish purple color as if the sun were setting or had been dimmed. Both of us immediately looked up and lowered our weapons. A little off shore, a hole of light opened.

"Riku, what's going on?" I asked awestruck.

"I have no idea…." His response worried me. Riku always knew what was going on. A figure was beginning to come out of the hole. I squinted my eyes to get a better view and realized it was a girl. A girl falling from the sky….

"Do you think she's-" I was cut off in mid sentence.

"From another world? Yeah." His eyes were completely focused on the figure. He had such an intense stare, as if his blue green eyes were ablaze.

She was so high up and seemed to be falling at an increasingly fast speed. Light suddenly began to be released from her form in a stream behind her as she fell. Gradually, her fall began to slow and she hovered about twenty feet above the water, no longer upside down, but as if she was lying in a bed. The light then fell around her figure causing her to glow. After few seconds past, her right hand reached out in front of her as if it were attempting to grab onto something. At this moment, light disappeared around her and the sky immediately returned to its usual blue. The girl began to fall exceedingly fast and hit the water's surface with a splash. She was going to drown!

"Riku, what're we going to-" Looking his way, I realized he had just dove off the edge.

_**Passion's POV**_

I felt myself slipping into the depths of the ocean. My thoughts were blurring inside my head and I couldn't quite process what it was I needed to do. I released some air from my lungs and watched as the bubbles ran away from me. Something huge and blurry swam into my limited field of vision. It grabbed my hand and pulled me in the direction of the bubbles. I felt as my head broke surface and I took in a deep breath of air.

Opening my eyes, I realized I was in the water off shore from some island. It was about midday and the sky had scattered clouds. The water I was floating in was a very clear shade of blue, so clear I could see the sand at the bottom which was several feet below me. The island itself wasn't very big and had various wooden structures built around it. There were some people on it, about five from what I could see.

"Are you okay?" said a male voice beside me. _Must be who pulled me up,_ I thought as I turned in the water to face him.

"Yeah." I nodded. The boy who had saved me was a teenager with medium length silver hair and intense blue-green eyes. His hair had a bluish tint as it reflected the color of the water and his wet bangs were slightly stuck to his forehead. I immediately felt bad for making him jump in here and get wet. "Thank you very much for saving me. I'm sorry for getting you so wet." I said. He laughed and shook his head.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about it." He studied my eyes. "Are you from another world?" he asked. I nodded.

"Yeah," I said, taking a glance back toward the island. "Where am I?"

"Destiny Island." He took my hand in his. "I'm Riku." I smiled.

"I'm Passion." I said. Riku pointed to the island.

"Do you want to swim to shore now?" he asked. I nodded deciding that I could sort things out better on land than while treading water.

As we swam toward the island I tried to figure out how I got here. _Okay, so you were in the attacker ship and then got sucked into that hole thing-amajigger. Maybe it teleported you here? But, it wasn't the usual teleport hole. Maybe it was a black hole? But then, where were the others? Probably here, _I decided,_ we weren't separated last time so I doubt we are now. I'm sure they're okay anyway..._

Soon, the water became shallow enough for us to stand. As I stood up and walked beside Riku, I could feel the heaviness of my jeans weigh me down. I was completely soaked; my long curly brown hair dripped constantly as we walked to shore and my brown wife beater 1 stuck closely on my form. I noticed that Riku seemed dry except for his hair. Maybe his clothes were water resistant? They didn't seem that much different from the average Earth clothes; he was wearing a loose pair of jeans and one of those dark blue muscle tees with a black emblem on it.

"Most of the clothes here are made to resist water. They dry as soon as air hits them." he said, noticing that I was staring.

"Oh," I responded. The water was now up to our ankles and the tide was visible. A kid with spiky brown hair and innocent deep blue eyes ran up to us, splashing through the water. He was wearing khaki shorts and a fitted black tee.

"Hi!" the boy greeted with a huge smile on his face. "Are you from another world?"

"Yep." I nodded and smiled.

"Wow!" he exclaimed, "That's so cool! My name's Sora, what's yours?"

"I'm Passion." I said just as we stepped on the shore. It was the usual drill for places that didn't get a lot of outside visitors. They asked me tons of questions and I gave general answers, but not too general because I needed to get information from them as well. While I spoke with them, I took in some cultural details. It seemed that the people here had a civilized society and would welcome me. I inwardly sighed with relief, glad that I wouldn't have to watch my back as I slept. I couldn't really tell what life in the town was like because mainland wasn't clearly visible from this island.

"Will there be others like you coming here too?" one of the boys named Tidus asked. A quick breeze swept against my wet body which caused chilly bumps to appear on my arms. Automatically, I crossed them over my chest holding my elbows to warm them.

"I don't know. I'm not really sure how I got here." I replied.

"You're soaked; do you want to go to the mainland to dry off?" Riku asked, noticing my stance. I nodded. "Guys, we're gonna head back now." he announced to the crowd of kids I had just met. Riku showed me the way to the docks and stepped into one of the small boats tied to the dock. He held out his hand and helped me get into it. Then Riku untied the boat and began to row away from the island.

"Everything wasn't too overwhelming, right?" he asked while he pushed the oar forward.

"I'm used to it by now." I replied, "The reaction I've gotten from everyone here is normal so far. I'm just glad I didn't get stuck on an island with cannibals and human sacrifice."

"Oh we have human sacrifices." he said bluntly looking ahead while pulling the oar back. I felt my right eyebrow twitch. "Kidding, kidding..." he assured me.

"Phew, that scared me for a sec." I said, "We -my friends and I- once were on a world where a sacrifice happened every week. The inhabitants decided that they could just use one of us instead of killing off their own. It was crazy. Luckily we all got out of there okay." I mentally kicked myself for bursting out with that piece of information. _God you SUCK at keeping your mouth closed. Good job with destroying world order. Oh well._

"You've been to a lot of worlds, haven't you?" he asked.

"Yeah," I nodded, "Ten I think if you don't include this world." _That's right, _I told myself, _keep it simple..._

"Wow, that's amazing." he said tilting his head slightly to the left, "It must be great being able to escape from the confines of a world. Staying in one place for your whole life, living each day the same way... it's just so boring."

"You make it sound as if living in one world is torture." I said, scanning the ocean and then meeting his eyes. "It can't be all that bad."

"I want to have an adventure." he admitted while looking up at the sky, "Here, after a while, you don't get much adventure. The water surrounding this island is like a barrier. I want so badly to get out of this place."

"This island is gorgeous though," I disagreed. I didn't understand how someone could get tired of a place this perfect. Then I thought about my feelings toward Earth and how badly I had wanted to leave it. All of those nights I spend researching cheap ways to travel just so I could get out of my city, all of those days I spent earning money to get a train ticket... "But I can see how you feel. The days become more and more routine and eventually, you're driven out of you mind. Then, expanding your horizon is all you ever think about."

"Exactly." he said. "Back when we were kids, Sora, Kairi and I decided to get off this island. We've spent each year since then thinking of a way to get off. It all started on the night of a meteor shower, when Kairi washed up on shore. She has no memory of where she was from or how she got here. Sora and I met her at the Mayor's office when he finally let her come out to play. I think it was about six years ago? We'd never had someone from a different world come here before, so it was a really big deal. But..." he shook his head, "She just doesn't remember anything. I'm hoping that once we get off this island, we can find Kairi's world. Maybe then all of our questions will be answered."

"Have you guys figured out how to get off of the island yet?" I asked.

"We're building a raft; it should be done in a few weeks." he said. A warm ocean breeze grazed past us causing his silver hair to flutter in the wind as he pushed and pulled the oars. _Wow, he's built. _I thought to myself noticing his strong arms as he rowed. _But I mean, come on. A raft? _He started talking again. "I can't wait to start an adventure." he said and smiled at me, "So, how'd you travel to other worlds?" _Oh great, how do I answer this one? _I didn't want to lie to him; he had been so honest and open with his feelings. However, I had a duty to fulfill. Damn.

"By ship." _Let him imagine any ship he likes, _I thought to myself as I continued, "My friends and I were on it together. We crashed and I literally woke up while I was in the air. I was hoping that they'd be here too, but I guess not." I gave a pathetic laugh. "Ah, it's the first time we've been separated like this. I really hope they're okay." I suddenly got one of those random choky-crying feelings that sometimes overwhelm my senses. God I hate those. I shrugged my shoulders to get it out of my system as I gazed at the horizon. We were nearing a larger island with houses on it and a bigger dock.

"We're getting close to mainland. It's a small town, so people will automatically know you're not from around here. Keep quiet and go along with what I say." He gave a sturdy laugh, "We don't want to cause a mob. I'll walk you to my house and then my mom will set up a meeting with the Major for you. Okay?"

"Okay." I said, nodding as we pulled into the dock. Standing on the dock was an older man (maybe in his 30's?) with short dark brown hair wearing loose brown pants that resembled sweats, but poofed out around the ankle area and a peasant-ish looking shirt.

"Hey Riku!" he called at us, "Whose you're friend? I don't recognize her."

"She's from another town," Riku responded while tying the boat to the dock. I smiled and nodded my head slightly.

"I don't remember seeing her earlier. Boy is she wet; why aren't her clothes drying?" the man cocked his eyebrow. Riku shrugged.

"We're heading home to find that out right now." He stepped out of the boat and then helped me up to the dock.

"She sure is dressed different from the other girls here." He looked me over. "Where'd you say you were from again?" he said, giving me a suspicious look. I was at a loss of words. I couldn't just make up something...

"A town just north of here. We'd better hurry home now." Riku quickly said, grabbing my right hand and pulling me along. "See ya." he waved with his free hand and we walked down a dirt path. Grass lined the path and I could see we were headed toward several small houses. The path soon split into two directions and Riku lead me down one of them. We passed people on the path that began to stare and whisper things to each other. I looked up at Riku who was focused on the path in front of him, not making eye contact with anyone. We soon came to a medium size house. The roof was brown and the overall house was an off white. It was very cute looking and reminded me of the houses back on Earth. Riku pushed open the door and we entered.

The house on the inside had a very comfortable touch. The walls were a light brown and the furniture was wooden or painted brown. There were a few lights along the wall that gave off a warm glow. I could smell baking bread coming from a room to my left.

"Riku! Are you home? It's awfully early. I saw that the sky got darker; did we have a quick storm?" a gentle female voice called from where I guessed was the kitchen. I heard what sounded like pots being set in a cabinet.

"Mom, could you come out here for a second?" he asked. I heard something being set down in the other room and then small foot steps. The woman stepped out of the door way. She wore a white apron over a simple light orange dress. Her hair was shoulder length blonde and she had big, dark brown eyes. She looked me over and smiled.

"Who's your friend, Riku? I don't think I've ever met her." his mother stated.

"Her name is Passion." he said. "She-"

"She's soaked! Poor dear, what happened?" his mother interrupted.

"Um, I have things I could change into. Where is your bathroom?" I asked, feeling very awkward in my outfit. I figured me changing would give them time to talk.

"It's down the hall, second door to the right." Riku muttered and pointed. I nodded and walked that way. Once I was inside the bathroom, I heard them start talking again. Riku was explaining what happened and his mom was asking a lot of questions. Suddenly, they lowered their voices and continued talking. I cursed in my head, wanting to know what they were saying. I decided I was being too nosy and that I should just change. I opened my TDS and located a fresh pair of jeans and a brown fitted tee with Hello Kitty on the front. I took off my wet clothes and put them in my TDS, wondering if they'd be dry the next time I check. Then I slipped the dry shirt over my head. I finished zipping up my jeans and examined myself in the mirror. The waterproof eye liner and hair tamer I had purchased on Zxeaphon actually worked really well. _Phew, I don't look too bewildered, except... _I noticed I had a small cut under my left eye and a few more cuts on my arms. _Heal 'em later..._ I told myself. I would have done it at that moment, but I didn't want to draw any attention to the bathroom by yelling, "HEAL!". Just as I closed the TDS, I heard someone knock at the front door. Riku and his mother stopped their quiet talking.

"I'll get it." she announced in her bell-like voice. I turned off the bathroom light and stepped out. I saw Riku standing with his arms crossed and his mother with her back to us opening the door. He walked toward me and didn't make eye contact.

"This way." he muttered, walking past me. I followed him through the kitchen doorway and into the kitchen. The kitchen had everything a basic Earth kitchen did; a sink, a stove/oven, what looked like a refrigerator, a pantry, and dishes. The floor was wooden, the walls were a light coffee color, and there were three archways leading out of the kitchen. On the stove, steam came from a pot filled with some sort of vegetable and bread appeared to be in the oven. I inhaled the wonderful aroma of baking bread and steamed vegetables and the lingering smell of incense. We exited the kitchen through the archway on our left and entered a room what I'd say was a living room. The flooring was off-white shag with a very comfy looking dark brown couch. The couch sat near a stone fire place with a wooden coffee table in front of it and some upholstered chairs that matched the couch. Riku strode over to the couch and sat down on it. 2 I just kinda stood in the room, not sure if I should follow and sit or wait there.

"You can sit if you'd like." he mumbled patting the area next to him. I nodded my head slowly, walked to the couch, and sat down. He shifted to his right so he could face me. "Are you hurt from the fall?"

"Not too badly. I just have a few scratches here and there as far as I can tell." I responded. I lifted my left arm and examined it. Cuts and scrapes were scattered down it. Some still stung a little and I could see where bruises were coming up. _Shit, _I remembered, _I left the bruise balm on the ship... _"Eh, they'll heal." I muttered to myself. Riku reached out and lightly touched one of the bruises forming on my wrist.

"Do you want something for that?" he asked while examining my injuries.

"If it's not too much trouble-" I began.

"It's fine." He stood up and walked to over to the archway.

"Oh, um and thank you again for helping me so much today!" I called as he walked into the kitchen.

"Don't worry about it." I heard him say from the kitchen. I put my hands on my knees as I sat there and waited for him to get back. _This world is so much like Earth.. _I thought to myself, _I miss Earth.. Well, the people at least. I wonder what everyone's doing right now. Where are they anyway? My friends... Not just Pam, Carolyn, Amber, and Lisa; but everyone. I hope I'll see them again. What if they're hurt? And I'm just sitting here, stuck on this world, helpless... _I clenched my fists in my lap and looked at the floor. _What if I'm separated forever and I never see everyone again? _The full impact of this crash and the end of Earth were tugging at my thoughts. It had been in the back of my mind until this moment when I was left alone to think. The uncertainty of my future is what scared me the most. I just didn't know what I was going to do at this point and I didn't know if my loved ones were okay. I felt tears fill in my eyes and I quickly started thinking happy thoughts. I couldn't let myself cry here. _God you're such a sap. Suck it up, _I told myself. _Crying won't bring anyone back. _I felt a little better now, but my eyes were still full. I blinked a few times, hoping the tears would go away.

"I have the stuff for your bruises." I heard Riku say as he entered the room. I turned my head to face him.

"Thank you!" I said and smiled. The smile caused a tear to drop out of my water-filled eyes. _Dumbass._

"Are you okay?" he quickly said, walking over to me. I nodded and quickly wiped my cheek with my hand.

"Yeah, um I just had something in my eye is all." I lied. He gave me a suspicious look.

"Are you sure?" he asked while he sat next to me. I hesitated and then nodded. "Okay then..." he said, "Hold out your arms."

"Okay." I mumbled while sticking out my arms. Riku took some of the powder from the jar and sprinkled it onto my various scrapes and bruises. When the powder touched my skin, it glowed green for a second and then disappeared along with the injury.

"There we go." he said as he re-corked the bottle and set it on the coffee table.

"Thank you very much." I said for the umpteenth time.

"There's a mob of people outside," Riku's mother shouted from the kitchen, "I just called the mayor and he's heading this way. You have sure drawn a lot of attention." She entered the room carrying a porcelain tea pot and some tea cups. She set two cups in front of Riku and I and two at the other end of the table. She then poured the tea into each cup and took a seat opposite of Riku. "Are you overwhelmed by any of this?" she politely asked me.

"No, not really." I said, "I'm fine."

"I'm glad to hear that." she smiled and then I heard the door ring.

"I'll get that." Riku announced standing up. "Then I'm heading back to the island, okay?" His mother nodded and shooed him along. In a matter of seconds I heard the door open, loud noises from outside, and then it close. A large man walked into the room wearing an oddly pinkish colored suit. He looked to be in his forties and appeared very friendly.

"Why hello there." he said in a very deep, loud voice. I shook his hand. "I'm the mayor of this island, what's your name?"

"Passion." I responded and smiled. Then I pretty much re-answered the same questions that I had been asked by the kids. It was going to be a long day...

Later that Day

I stood in the apartment that the mayor was letting me stay in. It was a decent size, I guess. The room had a small kitchen, a bedroom, a bathroom,

nice closet space, etc. It was pretty homey and, I mean, it smelled nice… _Don't get too comfortable here, _I told myself, _You're leaving ASAP. Just stick it out until you can get a ship over here..._ That reminded me to check the damage on my communicator. I opened the TDS and located my communicator. The screen was black, so I turned it on.

No Signal.

"Damn it," I cursed, "Now I gotta figure out how to fix this thing..." I sat at the desk in 'my' room and started working on it.

About an hour into my work, someone knocked on my door. I figured that it was the mayor asking me to come to the town meeting he had mentioned earlier. But that wasn't until another hour... _Maybe he wants you to help set up or something queer like that?_ "Coming!" I called to whoever it was. I got up and walked toward the door. As I opened it, I saw a two of the kids that I had first met when I 'landed' on the island.

"Hi!" said the brunette with spiky hair, Sora I think he said his name was.

"Hello." I responded with a smile.

"Do you want us to show you around the island?" the girl with reddish color hair asked. I was pretty sure her name was Kairi. _Too bad you suck so badly at names, Passion._ I told myself.

"Sure!" I slipped on my shoes and closed the door behind me. Instead going to the main exit, Sora and Kairi began walking the opposite way

"The main exit is packed with people; we're leaving through the back." he explained. I nodded and followed them. The back exit was easy to miss if you weren't looking for it; it was tucked behind a few empty boxes and didn't even have a doorknob. Sora moved a few boxes and slid it open. Sunlight poured in from the opening and we stepped out. There were a lot of trees and bushes with flowers, but I didn't see the path. Sora and Kairi led me through the bushes and up a hill. At the top of the hill there was a clearing and I could see far off the shores of the island. The colors of the setting sun spilled into the ocean.

"It's beautiful..." I cooed. We all sat down in the grass.

"Yep." Kairi agreed. "We're waiting for Riku to meet us up here. In the meantime," she said, turning to face me, "I have some questions..." Kairi explained that she came from a different world, but was too young to remember it. She wanted to know if I knew anything about her leaving it.

"Well, I don't think you came from Earth, "I began, "but then again there's really no way of me knowing that. People disappeared on Earth everyday though usually they were just murdered or kidnapped." I shrugged. "I think you'll know when you find your world. Deep inside of your heart there are still memories of it. No matter what, people don't completely lose their memories. You just need to find something to trigger them."

"That's if I ever get off this island..." she muttered and lay back in the grass.

"I know you will." I said, "I mean, you got off your world somehow in the first place."

"I can't wait to see Kairi's home." Sora mumbled.

"You already have." I received confused stares from both of them. "Well, Kairi grew up here. This place _is_ her home. Sometimes, people forget that home is not where they came from, but where they make it. You know the saying, 'Home is where the heart is.'"

"Actually I've never heard of that before..."

"Me either." Kairi agreed.

"I guess it's an Earth thing..." I shrugged, "But it's true, you know?" They nodded. Suddenly, I heard a rustling in the bushes behind us. We all turned to see the source of the noise.

"its hell sneaking up here," Riku said while dusting off his pants. "Word sure spreads fast, eh? I swear, it's like everyone from town is in the street right now."

"They probably are, " Sora said looking at me, "trying to get a glimpse of you. It's not everyday we get someone from a different world. Wasn't it a lot like this when Kairi showed up?" Riku nodded.

"That was one confusing day," Sora began, "I-" He was bluntly cut off by the sound of someone screaming. Suddenly, more people began screaming and shouting off in the distance.

"What's going on?" I asked, alarmed by the noises. A loud bell began to chime.

"That's the alarm bell!" Riku halfway shouted, "You guys stay here, I'm going to see what's going on." He sprinted into the woods.

"Hey! I'm going too!" Sora called while running after him. Kairi and I both stood up and looked in the direction the boys had gone.

"Well, I guess we should go see what's going on, right?" I asked her.

"It could be dangerous..." she mumbled. I shrugged.

"Eh, who cares. I'm curious!" I said, "Besides, it's not like we're that much safer sitting here..." Kairi thought this over and nodded.

"You're right. Let's go."

When we exited the small forest area, we saw a mob of people running in all directions. I made an attempt to stop someone and ask what was going on but I received no answer. I looked to my left and realized that Kairi was gone. _Great. I am so lost._ I slowly walked around/dodged the running people. It seemed as if most of the 'excitement' was coming from the docking area, so I was headed that way. Soon the amount of people began to thin out and I could see through them better.

The ocean was having a spazz attack; waves crashed in all different directions and I could see dark rain clouds forming.

"The hell?" I muttered to myself. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck very close to my foot, causing me to jump back in excitement. The water dipped inward and I saw something dark forming deep beneath the surface.

"What's going on?" Riku said from behind me.

"I have no clue..." I responded, keeping focus on the water. "Whatever it is doesn't seem good." As if on cue, a huge wave was pulled from the ocean. It towered what seemed like hundreds of feet above us. I could tell it was about to crash onto the island, which would wipe out mostly all of the houses in this village. _I know I shouldn't meddle, but... _Time seemed to slow down around me as I contemplated what it was I should do. Using my powers here could cause massive controversy or I could get blamed for this whole mishap. Not to mention I could get into trouble. But, wasn't I supposed to help other worlds? Not to mention these people had been so nice to me...

Water began to crash down from the top of the wave. Wind whipped around me at an alarming rate. I needed to make a decision and fast. I glanced over at Riku who had an amazed expression void of fear on his face. I saw Sora next to him, mouth gaping. _Oh man, I can't let this thing crash here..._ I sighed and stepped forward a little bit. The wind seemed to be trying to push me away from the looming mass of wave, but I ignored it. Placing both of my hands in front of me, I began to cast the largest shield spells I had ever attempted.

I could feel my inner energy being drained out of my body. My fingertips felt warm as the power was released from it and into one large mass. Soon, the mass of energy began to spread and cover the island. I watched as the water spilled onto my newly made dome and back into the ocean. I feared an overflow, so I began to cast (what I guessed was) an absorption spell with my other hand. I had never used this amount of power before and I began to feel over whelmed._Curse my shitty endurance! _I thought to myself while the absorption spell began to power up. Casting both spells at once felt like I was being ripped in half. I couldn't take much more energy leaving me, but at the same time I had to finish what I started. _You can do this, _I told myself, _It's not so difficult, just tiring. Hang in there..._

I felt the final release of the absorption spell as it left my fingertips. The intensity that was omitted from my finger tips caused me fall on my bum, as if I had just shot a gun. I watched as the orb of energy passed through my shield and then 'froze' the water. The water then trickled into the orb and when all was obtained, the orb laid it flat back on the ocean. The spell caused the storm clouds to dissolve and all wind to die down. I lifted my left hand and pumped it in the air.

"I actually did okay this time! Score!" I exclaimed and looked around to see where Riku and Sora were. I saw Sora lying on his back about three feet to the right of me and seven feet back. "Sora, are you okay!" I shouted, hopping to my feet and running over to him. He sat up with a wide eyed expression on his face.

"That. Was. So. Cool." he said, "How did you _do_ that?"

"I dunno. I just guessed." I replied while helping him up.

"But, where'd you learn-" Sora was cut off by the sounds of a lot of people. I turned around and saw, like, thirty upset looking adults arguing with Riku.

"She didn't do it." he said, "It was just the weather."

"Weather my ass." said some old dude, "The 'weather' doesn't 'just' behave so erratically." Sora and I walked up to the crowd and he tapped Riku on the shoulder.

"What's going on?" I heard him whisper to Riku. I looked into the angry crowd. It seemed as if all their attention was focused on me; I could feel beams of hatred coming from their eyes. _Gahhhh what'd I do now?_ Then, I heard a voice from the crowd.

"Trying to destroy our island... Take this!" I looked in the direction of the voice just in time to see a rock coming full force at my face. As if on reflex, Riku's hand came up and caught the rock, inches from my face. I let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't do anything!" I called to them.

"Yeah right! LIAR!" were the responses I received. I saw someone else begin to pick up a rock. _Shittttt_

"Stop! STOP!" an old voice called from the back. Pushing through the crowd, I saw a very old man with small round glasses. He was balding and thin like a rail. "I'm so very sorry," he said while shaking my hand, "I'm this town's weather specialist." He turned to the crowd. "People, I caused this semi disaster. You see, I was trying to put up this towns tsunami shield when I accidentally corrupted the spell. It caused a chain reaction with the water, releasing an almost tsunami. Please do be nicer. This young lady had nothing to do with it." I heard a murmur ripple through the crowd and an embarrassed look echoed on everyone's face. "I think everyone is sorry," the old man said, "It was very rash of them to blame you so suddenly." he stated, sending a glare to the crowd.

I felt the scenery begin to spin, so I blinked my eyes to make them refocus. "Oh, it's all right..." I said, attempting to stop the spinning. "It could have been worse." I brought my right hand to my forehead. _Why am I so dizzy? Gorsh I feel drunk..._ I thought, stumbling backward.

"Are you okay?" Riku asked while steadying me.

"I...I think so..." I said as my eyes went in and out of focus. _Damn, I must have used too much energy..._ I thought as everything blurred to black.

* * *

Wow this chapter took me forever to post. Partially because I'm a lazy good for nothing, but also because I kept wanting to add stuff. I hope you all enjoyed reading and will review for me. I will love you forever if you do! Also, next chapter I will make a post personally thanking everyone who does.:-:.

1 A wife beater is like, a tank top kind of? But with thicker straps. I'm not sure what everyone calls them.

2 At this part, I wanted him to say, "Go make me a sandwich..." which is one of my favorite English quotes at this moment in time.


	5. Never Adjust

**li dynasty: You know I love you! I wanna read some of the stuff you write. Hmmm, maybe give me a story about your cat? **

**Disclaimer:** Hahahahah- your mom.

_**Chapter 5: Never Adjust**_

_"Please teach me how to live / A little more vulnerably than I do now / Won't you taint me just a little/ That way, even if I get hurt / And lose everything around me / This song of truth will flow through my heart."_

_"I...I just want to be by your side." she balled her fists in her lap. "Please don't go."_

_"Don't worry. I'll come back, I promise." he said while standing by the door. I watched the blurry scene unfold in front of me. It was like looking out the bottom of a glass; I couldn't recognize the faces, but the voices were those I had been hearing since my journey began._

_"Okay." the female voice hesitantly responded. Silence followed for about a minute until what I figured was the male exited the room. A white light engulfed me and I was now floating above some sort of battle field._

_"We suffered a horrible loss. There were no survivors on either sides from what we've gathered." a male's voice I didn't recognize said. Then, the battle field disappeared and I realized I had been looking at a screen. Two blurred figures now stood in front of me._

_"But... No survivors? Does that mean-" A familiar female voice said._

_"Yes, I am very sorry for your loss." the new male voice said. I watched as one of the figures tightly embraced the other. "Now, we must look toward the future-" My vision of this world began to diminish and I was swept back into darkness._

I sat up in bed in a dark room which I assumed was mine. From the window, I could see a moon glowing against the dark clouds.

"Why another dream? I thought they were over..." I said to myself and shook my head. "It's the stress. I'm going insane. Darn." I pulled the covers off of me and stood. "Wait, how'd I get in here?" The last thing I remembered was the island...the wave... "Oh yeah, you passed out... again. How cliché. If I pass out two more times, I'll beat Lisa's record." I told myself while walking to the table in 'my' room. I noticed that the windows near my bed weren't even; they were insanely crooked. This bothered me... A lot. So did the ceiling, which was obviously created by human hands. They most definitely didn't have technology. I exited the door to my bedroom which was also crooked. I sat at the table in the center of the room.

On the table sat a note. It read:

Passion-

I am so sorry for what happened earlier. The weather specialist said you should regain consciousness by tomorrow, so I'll stop by around 12 to see how you're doing. I hope you're awake! Anyway, the town meeting was pushed back to tomorrow or whenever you feel better. Everyone feels really bad about what happened and I hope you're not upset about it.

-Riku

"I gotta get out of here,"I told myself, "The people here don't seem too fond of outsiders."

_Aww, what about those kids? They were so nice!_

"Shut up." I said to myself.

_No. Make me._

"Fine, I'm not listening."

_Yes you areeee._

"Shut up before I kill you."

_I'd like to see you try._

"Try? I'd win."

_You couldn't win against a paper bag. Hahahaha._

"You're mentally unstable." I said.

_I know._ I replied and then decided that I should stop talking to myself for a while. People would start to ask. I shrugged and refolded the note. Looking at the clock sitting across from me, I realized it was 5 AM. I wasn't tired and it would be impossible for me to go back to sleep. What to do, what to do... To burn time, I brushed my teeth and changed into a short outfit. Then I organized my stuff around the room. _Now what, smarty? _I sat down at the desk and tapped my fingers on the wood.

"Ooooh!" I exclaimed, "I should fix the communicator!" I opened my drawer and pulled the cell phone-like device out. The screen was still black, so I opened up the back and began messing with the power orbs. About an hour later, I realized I had become bored of this.

"Aw, c'mon." I said to myself, "You gotta finish this!" I stared at the pieces of the communicator on the table. "Why won't it fix?" I sighed and began to piece it back together. It would be pointless to make myself keep working on this, especially since I didn't know what I was doing. I slammed the desk drawer shut. I wasn't a help to anyone and I knew that. I wasn't special at all, so why was I here? My friends... It was obvious why they were chosen to come. They were all so smart, so perfect, and just so... wonderful in general. _And_ modest about it.

_They're better off without you..._

"I told you to shut up." I said while I slid on my shoes. Being in here so long would drive me even crazier; I needed some fresh air. I exited my apartment complex.

The warm outside air gently swept across my cheek. The sky was a dark blue with hints of the morning sun to the east (or so I guessed it was the East). I could see mountains further inland and many lush green trees. I inhaled deeply and smelt the ocean. I had never lived near an ocean before, only on vacation and who really counts that? Plus, I had never seen ocean water look so clear before. I began walking down the dirt path, past several houses and buildings. A few people were walking around too, mostly fishermen though. I waved and smiled at them to be polite and they did the same. So far, things were okay. No one stopped me or made a fuss. Phew. I got down to where the beach was and saw several kids paying some sort of ball game. They threw the odd shaped ball back and forth, some even punted it. I watched them for a while, semi interested. It looked really fun...

Someone tapped on my shoulder, so I turned to see who it was.

"Find this interesting, ya?" Wakka said. At least, I thought he'd said his name was Wakka.

"Yeah, what're they playing?" I asked pointing to the kids.

"It's a game called Blitzball. It's popular 'round here." he said with a heavy islander accent.

"Oh." I responded. I watched as one of the children, a young brunette girl, missed her catch causing the ball to roll over in my direction. I tapped my foot against it and passed it back to her.

"Thank you!" she called to me.

"No problem." I replied with a smile. _Gosh I love little kids..._

"Kids are so silly, ya?" Wakka said to me. I nodded. "So, whatta you doing up so early?" he asked.

"I usually wake up pretty early and I needed some fresh air." I responded, "What about you?"

"Fishing. Would be school, but you got it cancelled for us today. Good job."

"Did I do something...?" I asked, a little worried something had happened while I was sleeping.

"Nothin' bad, da school people had to meet with da mayor to discuss how they'd teach wit you in da school."

"Oh, that makes sense. But, why wake up so early to fish?" I asked.

"Good money, ya know? It's an easy job that da mayor'll pay us for. Da more fish, da more munny we get. After that huge wave yesterday, we got ten times more fish than usual. I just left earlier and got twice as much as I do when I stay late."

"Well, that's good!" I replied, "I'm happy for you." Wakka smiled and scratched his head.

"Ya, well I-" he was cut off in mid sentence.

"WAKKA! Hey, who're you talking tooooo?" I heard Sora call. I looked past Wakka and saw him running toward us.

"Hi, Sora!" I waved. He reached us and stood next to Wakka.

"Hey! Are you feeling better?" he asked me.

"Yeah, I think I was just tired." I laughed, "But I'm fine now." He was such a little ball of energy!

"That's good!" he exclaimed and grabbed one of my hands in both of his, "I'm really sorry about what happened with the rock and all, but will you please stay?"

"I couldn't leave even if I wanted to. The only way of communicating with my friends is broken and they're my way out. It looks like you guys are stuck with me until I find them or they find me." I explained.

"That's okay! We're glad to have you!" he enthusiastically said. I laughed.

"Well, that makes things easier on both our parts."

For the next hour, Sora and Wakka showed me around the island. They explained stuff about their school, the geography, games, foods, and so many other things. I was having trouble analyzing so much information. After Wakka left, Sora took me to the Market and helped me find foods that were like the ones on Earth. I got a few fruits that resembled strawberries and some vegetables that looked like lettuce and broccoli, a salmon-like fish, rice and noodle-like things, bread, and various other foods they suggested. It was all so cheap! After I paid for it, Sora helped me carry the items back to my apartment.

Once we were inside and the groceries were set down, Sora looked around.

"Wow, how'd you get all of this stuff in here? Where'd it come from?" Sora gaped. I had arranged most of my earth stuff the day before around the room to make myself feel more at home. He poked my battery powered CD player. "And what's this?"

"Well, most of the stuff in here comes from Earth. It's stored in this space thing that's always with me. And that, Sora, is a CD player."

"CD Player?" he asked.

"You know, music comes out of it..." I muttered. He shook his head, confused. "I'll show you." I walked over to him and turned it on. A soft melody poured out.

"What song is this?" he asked while the melody played. Then, the beat picked up and the words started. _Anata no kawari ni sora naite ita nara..._

"It's called _Smile_."

"What're they saying?"

"Oh, let me switch it to the English version my friends and I recorded..." Back when we were on Zxeaphon, we had amused ourselves with Karaoke and recording CD's. I pressed the arrow button to track 5. The song began again with the same melody. This time, my voice replaced the originals. _If the sky was crying for you, I'll turn into a sea and embrace it. Even if we're swallowed by the storm and lose our map, your back is the signpost for me now..._

"Wow," Sora said over the music, "I like this song. Are all Earth songs like this one?" I shook my head.

"There are different categories for music." I said as the music continued. _Smile smile watch me always, watch me forever whenever. Smile smile I want to believe, I want to feel it forever. _"Like rock, pop, rap, R&B, country, metal, emo. And sometimes these categories combine or go into subcategories. This is another one we recorded..." I pressed the arrow key to track 7. Pam's voice began singing the translation to Without You._ I wrote the words "I miss you" in the sand. The blue of the sea that day was too dazzling. I wander alone, searching for you among the passing crowds in the bustling cities... _"That's my friend Pam on the vocals; she's an excellent singer." I sighed, "Most of my CDs are left with the others. So, next time we see them, I'll play more music for you."

"Sounds like a deal," he said holding his hand out.

"Yep." I responded while taking his hand in mine and giving it a firm shake.

"So, who are these friends of yours?" he asked.

"Oh, I have pictures. Lemme go get them..." I turned to enter my room when someone knocked at the door.

"Don't worry, I'll get it." Sora said, walking to it. I nodded and entered my room. On my desk was a frame I had of me and the others. We had taken it in Zxeaphon

during the recording (hehehe we were treated like celebrities there). It was really cute, from left to right stood Amber, Carolyn, Pam, me, and Lisa. We all had really

cute poses and were wearing Zxeaph Gear (fashion statement outfits, maybe I'll draw a picture and scan it sometime?). Then I opened the drawer and pulled a few more pictures I had that were sitting under my broken communicator. These were actually taken on Earth. A few were from Jessica's parties (she held several to keep Table 9, our middle school lunch table, in touch), some of Karina and Nadia (they were my friends since I was born pretty much), some of my family, and a few of my pets. I usually brought these with me so they'd be safe and luckily I had them on me when we were on the bus.

When I left my room, I noticed Riku and Kairi were sitting at the kitchen table with Sora. "Oh, hey guys." I said waving the pictures, "I went to go get some pictures."

"Yeah, and earlier she had music coming out of the box," Sora said, pointing to my CD player. I pulled up and chair and fanned the pictures out on the table. Kairi reached and picked up the one of my little sisters, Cherish and Tia. They were outside of my house on the driveway and playing basketball.

"Who are they?" she asked, pointing to them.

"Those are two of my sisters, Tia and Cherish. That's my house in the background." I responded.

"What are they doing?" Riku asked. I guessed he'd noticed the ball.

"It's a game called basketball. It was very popular in the US where I lived."

"You Es?" Sora asked.

"It's short for United States of America, a country which is like, a very small part of the rest of the world. The US is broken up into states and then those are broken

up into cities. I lived in Maryland."

"States?" Sora asked again. "Did they all have names?" I nodded.

"There were fifty of them in the US. Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas..." I begin listing them all in alphabetical order (I have it memorized IRL. xD) and ended

with, "Wisconsin, Wyoming. All fifty. "Complete silence followed.

"Wow." Sora broke the silence, "How did you memorize all of those!"

I shrugged. "We had to do this dumb song thing in like, 4th grade. It had all fifty states in alphabetical order and we had to sing that part about three times in the entire song. But, I got Hawaii _and _I got to be a sea turtle so that made everything better." Confused looks again. _Better slow down with the details..._ "Hawaii's a state in the US. It's a lot like here, I guess."

"Have you ever been there before?" Kairi asked.

"Er, no. I wish though. I've seen pictures; the ocean water is so clear, it's always warm, and it's got a lot of mountains. When I first looked around here, I was reminded of it. Then again, all worlds share similarities with each other I guess." _Just keep gushing out with information. You'd best stop. _I caught myself. If I gave away too much information, I could mess up the future of this world. "Then again," I quickly added, "What do I know? I haven't spent that much time on other worlds." Okay, this wasn't a total lie so I didn't feel that guilty.

"How long do you think you'll be here for?" Sora quickly asked.

"I have no idea. It depends when I get in touch with my friends, but by the way things look, that may take a while." I looked at my hands and twiddled my fingers a bit, "I don't know if I'll ever get in touch with them now, so I'm mostly hoping they'll figure out where I am. That's okay though," I looked up, "I'm in no rush." _Well, that's a lie..._ I was in a rush. I needed to save people, not be stuck on some limited technology island...

"If they take a long time, you could always help us with the raft," Riku said, "And then come with us..."

"Yeah!" Kairi agreed, "It'd be fun, plus there's not much else to do here."

"We can show you it tomorrow-" Sora began.

"After school, though. It won't be cancelled tomorrow." Riku said.

"How about we go down there today? We still have some time." Kairi said.

"Yeah and then we have that dumb meeting." Sora stuck out his tongue, "Just a bunch of adults going on about nothing."

"I hope they don't make me give a speech or something. I'll freeze up." I stated recalling the 'speech' I had given on a previous world. It consisted of, "Um... Hi?"

and then complete silence. It wasn't _my_ fault, they hadn't warned me in advance.

"They'll go easy on you," Riku said, "The adults'll probably do most if not all of the talking anyway."

"Well, that's good." I muttered. "What time is it at?"

"They said around seven today. We have a little over five hours." he responded.

"Oh," I said, studying the pattern on the wall behind them.

"Do you want to go to the raft now?" Kairi asked while setting the picture she had been studying down. "That way, we'll have plenty of time to talk and work."

"Good idea!" Sora said, pushing his chair out and stretching. Everyone else slid out of their chairs, so I did too.

Once we made it to the second island, Kairi, Sora, and Riku led me to another part of it. We went through a door, down a hallway (Kairi explained the path was cut through one of the hills on the island), and out of a second door. From there, we went across a bridge, and then down off a sand dune. I saw in front of me a partially-worked-on beached raft. On top of it sat several supplies like wood, rope, shells, and twigs.

"We're no where near finished." Riku stated blandly, "But at least we're getting somewhere."

"We'd be further along, but the last raft we made got destroyed in a storm before we finished." Sora said, "We're being extra careful with this one."

"That was about a month ago." Kairi said, "So we're making decent progress." I nodded.

"So, what're you using to hold the wood together?" I asked as we got closer to it.

"A shell cement base." Riku responded pointing to the bucket of crushed shells that sat next to the raft. "We use these shells mixed with water, clay, and a type

of plant found here."

"Oh," I responded. It kinda sounded like the concrete we used on Earth.

"And to reinforce it, we're tying the wood in sections." He pointed to a few pieces that were tied together. "Like that."

"Have you guys picked out what to use for flotation devices? Just incase it's too heavy for the wood alone?"

"Flotation devices?" Riku asked.

"Like balloons." I said, "You could tie some air sacks to the side of the raft. Two on each side would be good I think... And then that way, it would have less

chances of sinking."

"Good idea." Kairi said, "We hadn't really thought of that."

"So, you'll help us?" Sora asked excitedly.

"Of course!" I nodded, "It'll be fun."

"Awesome." Sora responded.

"Well, we should see what we can get done today!" Kairi said, "We left off with..." Kairi reached into her pocket and pulled out a white piece of paper. "Sora and

Riku need to get more wood. Passion, would you like to start working on those air sacs?" she asked me. I nodded.

"Sure."

"Alright then, let's get started!" she exclaimed. Riku and Sora nodded. They set off for the other part of the island. I stayed on this side and looked at the leaves on

the coconut trees. In order to fully examine them, I had to go up a ramp on the far side of this island and then jump onto the top of one of the trees. The leaves seemed durable, but they weren't full enough to use as sacs. Plus, I didn't think they keep a decent consistency when dried. I jumped down and landed on the sand with a thump. I walked to some of the bushes and examined the plants here. Most of the leaves were too tiny to provide any help. I sighed and climbed up the miniature hill we had slid down to reach this part of the island. I walked down the stairs of that hill and into the shallow water. Towards the rock wall to my right was a bush full with purple, blue, and green plants. They seemed to be pretty diverse, so looked through these. The spiky purple plant in the middle was too stiff to bend into an air sac and the other plants just weren't durable enough. So far, all of the plants that grew in the bushes and ground of this island wouldn't work.

I looked up and shielded my eyes from the sun. Toward the top of the trees were large green leaves. I watched as one broke off in the wind and flew down toward the water. I followed it until the water reached my knees. Luckily I had waterproofed this outfit, so I waded in further. When the water was up to my shoulders, I could reach out and touch the leaf. I pulled it toward me and noticed that the water didn't go through it. It felt pretty durable and I could easily wrap it up to form an air sac; it was perfect. There was only one problem... I turned around in the water and gazed back up at the rest of the leaves.

They were too high up. I waded back to shore and exited this part of the island. _Sora or Riku should be able to help me.._. I walked under the bridge and up the stairs. Riku had just exited some cave in front of me. I walked up to him and held out the leaf.

"I think we could use these," I said, "But they're way high up."

"That's not a problem. We can reach them, I'll show you-"

"Show me you stuff!" We heard Wakka yell. I turned around and saw him and Sora beginning to duel.

"What are they doing?" I asked Riku. He stood next to me.

"A duel. We do it a lot here. Wakka uses a blitzball as his weapon. Sora, as you can see, uses a wooden sword." he replied. _For fun, they beat the shit out of _

_each other. Okayy..._

"Oh." I responded and watched as Wakka chucked a ball at Sora who hit it with his sword. Sora took a few whacks at Wakka who spun around and used the ball as a shield. After a few seconds of watching, I went back to explaining to Riku the process I'd use to create the air sacs. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something blue flying toward me. Riku quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me into him. I felt the wind from the ball pass by my head and listened to it splash into the water near the miniature waterfall. I could hear Riku's heart beat through his soft shirt. He had a nice smell; it reminded me of some of the guys from Earth.

"Wakka, watch where you're throwing that thing! You could have hit someone!" he yelled. I quickly regained my composure.

"Sorry, man!" he called back and continued to fight with Sora.

"Are you okay?" Riku asked me, his deep green eyes studying mine. I rubbed the back of my head, slightly embarrassed of my uber slow reaction time.

"Ha...ha... Yeah, thank you!" I smiled. His eyes softened and he smiled back.

"It seems like things are after your head here. I'm gonna have to keep an eye out for you." he replied.

"That'll be okay with me. I'll probably need extra help." I muttered.

"Hey, let's go and get some more of those leaves," he said, "That way, we won't get hurt from Wakka's carelessness." I nodded.

"Good idea." We walked, once again, through the exit that led to the second part of the island. From here we stepped on a small wood box next to the door and then jumped onto the roof above the door. Directly in front of us was a small door-like window built into the wood that covered this wall. Riku climbed up and into it first. Once in there, he held out his hand and helped me into it.

"This way," he pointed into the dark depths of the hall. "Hold my hand so you don't get lost, okay?" he said. I nodded and took his hand in mine. We began walking into the darkness. I felt the dirt path begin to go uphill. "Be careful not to trip." Riku said. "There are some big roots on the ground.'

"Okay. Where is this leading to?" I asked.

"The top. It's a path created over some plants and through the hill."

"Who made all the stuff on this island?" I asked, amazed at the structures used here.

"We did, well, with some help from the adults." Riku responded.

"Wow." I said. "On the main island, was everything there built by people?" I asked while following him across the treetops.

"Yep; that's why nothing looks the same." He took a step over a large section of leaves. "Watch your step, there are a lot of ditches around here."

"Okay." I carefully stepped over the pile of leaves and followed after Riku. He seemed to know just where he was going and so I guessed he was up here quite frequently. In no time we made it to the spot where the leaf I had found had fallen from. There were enough leaves to make dozens of air sacs.

"Is this okay?" Riku asked while crouching near the plants.

"Yeah, this'll be perfect." I kneeled next to him and examined one of the leaves in my hand. "How do I pick these without hurting the plant?" I questioned.

"Here," He moved his hand over to the leaf I was looking at and lifted it up. From the stem he dug a bit into the ground. He wrapped his fist around where the stem turned white and placed his other hand flat on the ground next to his fist. In one swift motion, the leaf came clean out of the ground. "Now you try." he said while placing the leave he had just plucked on the ground. I mimicked what he had done, but when I pulled it did not come out.

"Eh?" I muttered. Maybe using all that magic yesterday drained some of my strength?

"Pull harder." Riku said. I nodded and pulled harder this time. It still didn't come out. "Harder." he said again." This time, I pulled as hard as I could and -pop!- it came out!

"Awesomeness!" I exclaimed.

"Good job." he said patting me on the back, "How many should we gather?"

"I'd say six, incase I screw up on a few."

"Alright." he responded. About ten minutes later we had gathered all six leaves. We retraced out steps back to the tunnel, each carrying three leaves. Riku shifted the leaves from his right hand to his left so he could lead me through the tunnel again. I felt like an incompetent, stupid little kid holding his hand. It was slightly harder going downhill because there were a lot of rocks and roots, but I luckily avoided them because Riku would point out every time we came near one. As we exited the dark tunnel, I saw Sora and Kairi walking across the broken bridge toward us.

"Hey guys!" Riku greeted. I waved at them and they waved back.

"Where've you guys been?" Sora asked as we dismounted from the door.

"Gathering leaves for the air sacs." I said, "I saw some we could use high up and Riku helped me get them."

"Good!" Kairi said, "We can create them tomorrow."

"Why not now?" Riku asked. Kairi pointed at the sun.

"It's time to go back to the island. They're starting that meeting soon." she responded.

"Right! I almost forgot about that." I said.

"Same here," Sora said and pointed at Kairi, "She reminded me just now and we were going to go look for you two."

"And now that we've found you, I guess we should head back?" Kairi suggested. Everyone nodded and we made our way to the dock.

It took a little over twenty minutes to row back to mainland. Once we banked the rafts, Kairi led the way to the Town Hall. I could already see a crowd of people heading toward the little house that was the Town Hall. It seemed like many people of all age groups would be present. New comers _are_ a big deal for this world...

The moment we entered the Town Hall, a hush fell over those already seated. The mayor stood on a stage behind a platform in the front of the room with seven seats behind him. Three of those seats were already filled by some rather old looking gentlemen. As soon as he saw me enter, he gestured for me to join him up front. I looked to Sora.

"Go, it's okay we'll find seats." he said giving me a thumbs up. I forced a smile and nodded. It felt like I was walking through water as I approached the mayor. I could hear a murmur of whispers from all those I passed. My heart raced inside of me as I stepped on stage and sat in my designated seat. I felt my eyes dart around the room attempting to absorb details. This was almost as bad as that (almost) sacrifice I had to witness. There were people _everywhere_; some sat at the top balcony that overlooked the stage, some stood/leaned against the wall if they were on this floor. All the faces looked the same to me.

"Welcome, everyone!" the mayor called from the podium, "I'm glad so many could make it!" Immediately, the room's volume decreased. "As you all know, we've gotten a new arrival. This is the second time ever in several years we've had someone arrive here from such a far away distance."

"Yeah, but does she know anything?" I heard a voice yell from the balcony. _Yeah, I'm right here people._

"Yes." the mayor confirmed. This flung the room into a hush discussion. "Order, order!" he demanded. The room once again, hushed.

"Why is she hear?" a woman called suspiciously from the center of the ground floor. The mayor chuckled.

"I'll let her explain that." He stepped down from the podium and I rose. _Oh god, oh god..._ I thought as I stepped up to the podium.

"Well, the reason why I'm here is..." I inhaled, "Um well, you see, I crashed. My ship that is. I was on my way somewhere with my friends when our, er, _navigation_

went out of whack and we crashed. I'm in no way a threat to anyone here and I won't be a permanent problem. I just have to wait until they pick me up."

"What's your name?" someone yelled.

"Passion. And I'm from a world called Earth." I responded.

"Are you normal?" someone else shouted. _What the hell kinda crap question is that?_

"Um, I don't know?" I responded. "As far as I've seen, I'm not mutated in anyway or different from the people here. Oh, and I'm decently mentally stable...I guess.."

"Are you planning an invasion?" a child's voice asked. I laughed.

"No, I have no intention of harming anyone in this island community. I'm really just a kid after all..." I responded. The mayor clapped.

"Let's all give this young lady a hand." He stepped up to the podium. "I'll take it from here," he whispered to me. I nodded and sat back down.

The assembly lasted around half an hour. It was really rather boring. After it, I was bombarded by so many people, it took me about an hour to finally get away when Sora pulled me along. He took me to a lady who introduced herself as the principal of the school. She was very polite and allowed me to tour the school. After we had finished (roughly two hours later), she handed me a uniform, two locker numbers, and a schedule. She explained that all the books I needed were in the first locker and that the second had my gym clothes. I thanked her and then Sora walked me back 'home'.

"So, Sora..." I began as we walked down the hill, "Are there any other towns on this world other than yours?"

"There are a few, just behind that mountain." he said and turned to point, "But travel doesn't happen that often."

"Oh," I responded, "Do you think that, maybe, my friends could be there?"

"Of course!" he said, "If they are, we'll hear about it in a week. That's when they'll deliver the news. And if nothing shows up, then maybe they're just keeping it low key." I nodded.

"I guess I shouldn't be worried too much. They'll be fine without me; they usually are..." I looked over my schedule. "For now, I'll just focus on learning more about this world."

"May I see that?" Sora asked, "So I can see what classes we share." I handed it to him.

"I hope everything's generally the same. Mathematics should be fine for me, but as for the other subjects, especially History, I'll be clueless in." Not to mention it'd been a while since I had to be in school...

"I have a book you could borrow. It gives a really good history on this island. Do you want to borrow it?" he asked while we turned left on the dirt road.

"Really? If you don't need it-" I said. Sora waved his hand,

"It's fine, really. I don't use it anymore." he said. "We can stop by my house and I'll get it for you."

"Thank you!" I said while giving him a hug. "It's so much easier being in a new world when people help me out." Sora laughed.

"Well, you're friendly, not hostile. It feels good to help." he replied. "Not to mention, you did save the island."

"That was no big deal, I couldn't have not helped." I responded.

"No big deal? I've only seen our most experienced mages create something that powerful and they're _old_." He paused, "Is everyone on Earth like that?" I laughed.

"No no, you're right. It is uncommon. I'm just... different." I said, "Hey, isn't that your house?" _Good attempt at changing the subject._

"Yep! I'll run in and get it real quick." Sora said and ran into his house. Iwaited out in the warm island temperature. The warm had just begun to set and every once in a while, I'd feel a warm air current brush past me. This little town seemed so peaceful; I could hear the murmur of people and birds, I smelt lots of food cooking, and I could feel the perfect balance this world held. The genuine innocence and untainted feeling this world emitted...

Why the hell was I here? I'd only screw things up; I was off of Earth to fight, not to vacation. I felt something pulse behind me, like an aura of some sort. I pivoted on my left foot to see what it was. Nothing was behind me... Again, I felt the aura pulse; this time it was closer and coming from my right side. I walked in the direction of the aura. It felt... familiar. I could feel it becoming stronger as I approached a bush near the side of Sora's house. The bush was ordinary green with purple flowers, so I checked behind it. A silver object lay at the base of the bush covered by a few leaves and the grass. I picked it up and brushed it off.

I recognized it immediately. It was the dagger Carolyn had won during a contest on some world. It was an original design and good for protection. She never let it out of her sight... Why was it here? I held it by the handle and felt a surge of her aura shock through me. Time literally came to a stop for me; I was frozen for that moment and left alone with my thoughts. Why was it here? **Why was it here?** Why wasn't she here with it? Where was she? It couldn't have just fallen with me, she had to be here with it. But... She... Wasn't.

"Hey Passion!" Sora called from behind me. "I've got the book." He approached me. "Sorry it took so long, my mom wanted to know when I'd be in for dinner." I turned around and hid the dagger behind my back.

"Oh, no problem. Thank you so much!" I took the book from him.

"Sora!" I heard an older woman's voice call, "Time to come in!"

"I'll be there in a minute, mom!" he called back. Sora rolled his eyes and smirked. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, okay? We'll stop by there on our way to school." I nodded.

"Thanks again, Sora!" I said as we parted at his doorstep. The walk back to my apartment was slightly dark because of the setting sun, but it was all good. I looked at the dagger in my hand realizing that I shouldn't get upset or over analyze this. _Just smile, everything's gonna be okay._ I assured myself as I unlocked my door. I wondered what weird dream I'd have tonight...

* * *

This took me a while to write. Sorry people! I have midterms coming up, so my next chapter may take awhile or just suck in general. ♥ 


	6. DDRing my Way into a Lot of Trouble

I decided to re-do this chapter. Its taken soooo long because I've redone it about 30 million times and then I decided to scrap it and rewrite this whole thing, sooo. Yeahh that and I'm a lazy good for nothing teen

Chapter Seven: DDRing my Way into a Lot of Trouble

"Whatever you do, I'll do it too / Show me everything and tell me how / It all means something / And yet nothing to me / I can see there's so much to learn / It's all so close and yet so far / I see myself as people see me/ Oh, I just know there's something bigger out there."

I could see the beginnings of the sun on my horizon as I brushed my teeth. I hadn't had any strange dreams that night and, so far, things were going great. I put on my school uniform and watched it settle around my body. It reminded me of a Japanese school girl uniform; the skirt was plaid and pleaded and the top was white with a plaid tie. I chose to wear my hair down and I quickly refreshed my eyeliner before grabbing a piece of fruit for breakfast. I guess everything was ready...  
_  
_I had just slipped on my shoes when I heard a knocking at the door. I picked up my bag and walked over to answer it.

"Hi." I greeted. Sora, Riku, and Kairi were at the door in their uniforms.

"Ready to go?" Kairi chirped. I nodded and closed the door behind me.

"We're not districted for buses, right?" I asked. They responded with looks of confusion.

"Buses?" Sora asked.

"Like a school bus?" I offered. Confused looks. Okkaay…

We were walking down the street and I was ending my explanation of school buses.

"Pretty much every school in Maryland had them even though they're huge, slow, and have no seatbelts." I finished.

"Wow." Kairi said. I shrugged.

"We're here!" Sora piped. I looked at the school building. It looked similar to any high school on Earth, but some of the architecture was a bit off. The roof was a little different then any of the schools I had been to (that was the most noticeable difference). The doors were huge and the steps were stone, as usual. I guessed that behind the building was the field.

It was just like any other school. Being here so long had allowed me to absorb more details and compare this world to Earth. I often wondered why each world was so similar to the other. Sure, they each had distinct qualities, but…….. Maybe it was because of the link they used to share?

"You coming?" Sora asked, pulling me along.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry I was thinking." I muttered.

"Sora wouldn't know what that feels like." Riku loudly whispered to me. Obviously Sora heard.

"Hey! I do think!" He exclaimed.

"Sometimes." Kairi piped. I smiled. Thank goodness I befriended nice kids...

First class: Science. Or something like it. Their logic was a little 'less advanced' than on Earth. But, in some ways, it was more advanced. They covered basic laws of energy (from what I read in the text book) and various other theories that were similar to ones on Earth. But, much like other worlds, they had what set them a little farther ahead then on Earth; the basic principle of magic. They weren't too advanced in mechanics though, I noticed. Harnessing electricity was still a problem for them.

The school educating system was a bit like High School on Earth; you'd have classes with people of all ages depending on your learning level.

"Finding everything okay, Passion?" I snapped my head up from the text book I had been staring at.

"Yeah." I nodded. The teacher put down her piece of chalk and erased the board. My mind told me that we still had a while left in class. _Maybe we're going to do a lab? Or maybe she's doing a presentation………?_

"Would you like to tell us a little about Earths science?" Oh crap. "We're all very interested." _Oh, man... Sure I was good at Science back on Earth, but I'm no teacher... _I could feel a bit of the blood in my face leave.

The teacher probably noticed my look of dismay, so she quickly added, "Or anything about your world. We're all very interested." Phew, that was better. Now all I had to think of was something interesting that wouldn't reveal too much information.

"Sure. Um, how about a popular game played on Earth?"_ I think that would work. It's not against the rules, right? I mean, it's just a game, how much could that affect the other worlds? Wait, when did I care? _"And then you can ask questions based off of that."

"Oh, sounds interesting." she cooed. "By all means." The teacher gestured for me to come to the front.

I walked to the front of the room and looked at everyone. "Well, on Earth there is a very addictive game called DDR. DDR stands for Dance Dance Revolution." A hand immediately went up. It belonged to some dirty blonde chick (eh, I think her name was Noakai) in the back left of the room. "Um, yes?" I asked, wondering who could possibly have thought of a question already.

"Why is dance repeated twice?"

"I guess because it sounds cool." I shrugged. _Note to myself: Find out if there's a reason as to why dance is repeated twice._

"Oh." she responded, nodding her head. "Go on."

"DDR is played by using a dance mat with four arrows." I drew a diagram of a dance mat on the board. "After you insert the game disk, you select what player you want to be and various other options. After you've chosen what music and level, you begin. On the screen, arrows fly by and you step on the mat according to arrow." I drew a picture of what the screen looked liked. "You can play it by yourself or with friends." The teacher stood up and excused herself from the class, saying that she needed to give some textbook to some other teacher and that I'd be able to handle this. _Oh gee, great. Let me do your job for you. I don't mind. ;-;_

As soon as the teacher left, another hand went up. However, this time it was that girl, um Abysia I think? I nodded my head toward her. With her left hand, she twirled her straight strawberry blonde hair and then rolled her perfect green eyes. "I don't see what's so fun about this. It sounds utterly boring and pointless." Her comment stung and immediately I thought up something to say back to her about her 'utterly boring and pointless' life. Instead, I just shrugged.

"It's actually quite challenging because it requires a huge amount of coordination and concentration. It takes a lot of practice and is great exercise." I held out my right hand, palm faced down. I had chosen to wear my hologram ring today incase something like this happened. I could feel the silver base of the ring become warm as streams of greenish light etched their way up the sides and into the light emerald gem that was cradled in the ring. "Hologramorph 90987," I commanded it. Small dots of green light gathered around the top of the gem and formed a flat display 'ground'. Then, a picture was formed of a stick figure DDRing on heavy. "This is what it looks like when someone DDR-s." I had purposely put it in heavy to make it look harder. Everyone watched the object as it jumped and moved across the dance pad.

Just as the teacher entered the room, the bell rang. I turned off my screen and got my stuff as we were dismissed to our next class.

"That was some presentation." Riku said as we walked out of the classroom.

"I hate being unprepared for things like that." I shook my head. "It puts me into such a panic."

"You didn't seem panicked though. Good job." He smiled at me and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Thanks."

------

The next few classes went by in a blur. It was "Earth this" and "Earth that" constantly. It became routine to answer their questions because they were usually repeated. I had a class like PE next with Sora, Kairi and Riku. This I worried about. I was fine in sports back on Earth, but the rules here just seemed so complicated. Sora and Riku made an attempt to explain what they were currently playing in gym. It was a game called, um, Bliss Ball or something. They said for now we were playing it dry which I didn't get at all.

Crap I'm screwed. I thought to myself as Kairi and I walked into the girl's locker room. We walked to an area with benches and lockers. I opened the one I had been assigned to and took the clothing out. There were like, seven different articles of clothing

"We're wearing these two today." Kairi said with a smile. They were the blue pair of shorts and white T shirt.

"Thanks. Gah, I'm so lost." I said while pulling my school shirt off and slipping the other shirt on.

"Don't worry. You'll get used to being here in a few days." She pulled her shorts up and folded her skirt. We put our stuff into our lockers and headed out of the locker room.

In the gym, most of the kids were seated toward the front in a half circle. Kairi and I found Riku and Sora who were already seated in the half-circle. We sat next to them.

"I'm so excited." Sora said as soon as we were seated. "I've been practicing so hard, so I think I'm ready to Blitz."

"Coach'll probably notice this time. I'm sure he'll give you game time next class." Riku replied.

"I hope he doesn't give me any." Kairi muttered. "Sports just aren't my thing. I'll probably get beamed in the face again."

"That was so funny last time." Sora laughed and Kairi hit him in the back of the head, which caused us all to laugh. Well, except for Sora. Then, a bulky man stepped into the center of the half circle and called the class to attention.

"Today we will be playing Blitz Ball on the field. Everyone will be split into two teams. Playing time will vary from person to person. Got it? Now, get your equipment." Everyone stood up and got into a line. After we got ours, I examined the vest as we walked to the far side of the gym to put it on. It was shaped a lot like a harness, with 2 straps across the front which tightened everything. The main part of it was a dark blue and the straps were both black. I mimicked Kairi and pulled the vest over my head. I looked the straps, figuring that they would be the normal Velcro or snap ones. As I looked at the tips, I realized that they were neither. Each were located on my right side below my under arm. I couldn't figure out how they were supposed to be put on, so I turned to look at Kairi who had already arranged hers correctly and was putting on gloves. Sora had already put on one glove and was slipping on the second. Riku had just finished strapping up his last glove.

"Um, how do I put this on?" I asked, holding up both the straps. They just kind of looked at me (one of those 'What the hell? Can you say drugs?' looks). "I never used anything like this on Earth. We used Velcro instead." Riku turned toward me.

"Let me show you." He pointed to the strap on his right side. "This one connects across the front to the other side on a diagonal." I held up my right strap and pulled it toward my left hip.

"How?"

"Like this," He reached toward me and took the strap from my hand. Then, he attached it to a yellow button on an area near my hip bone by applying a small amount of pressure. "See? It's pretty easy."

"Do I do the same with the other strap?" I asked, noticing his was slightly different. Because both straps were located on the right side, I couldn't figure out how I was supposed to make an X in the center.

"No, here. Like this." He took hold of my second strap and pulled it right to left so it held just under my chest. Then, he wrapped it through a loop parallel to the line and pulled it into a diagonal pressing the end into another yellow button.

"Ooooh." I said, realizing why I looked like such an idiot. It was so simple. "Thank you so much."

"No problem." I quickly slipped my gloves on and strapped them up. "Let's go to the field now." he said, pointing to a door located on the bottom right side of the gym.

"Okay!" Kairi and I said in unison. We, along with several other kids in the gym, walked out of the door onto a field that was brightly lit by the sun. The field was mostly packed down sand with 2 large areas of square grass. The overall layout looked really nice and the turf looked like it would be good for doing sports. The coach stood in the middle of the field holding a blue and white ball that looked like it had warts. He blew his whistle to get everyone's attention.

"It's time to weed out the boys from the men. Spilt up! Ya'll over there, ya'll over here." In about five minutes, we were all divided into 2 teams. As far as I could tell, it was about 20-20. On my team there were Riku, Sora, Kairi, that chick from Science, Abysia, Tidus, a guy named Riyuno, a shy brunette named Sayo, some blonde guy who had introduced himself to me(I'm horrible at names), and about ten other people I didn't know. About half of our team was called up to play, the other 10 of us sat back and watched until second quarter. Sora, Tidus, Sayo, Kairi, the blonde dude (Reiyin? Maybe.), and a few of the kids I didn't know were playing. Sora was in goal and Kairi was in what looked like defense. The ball was thrown into the air and a mad scuffle was made to claim it.

"Do you get what's happening?" Riku asked. I opened my mouth to say no, but then I was interrupted.

"Of course she doesn't know what's happening." Abysia said, sliding to sit next to Riku in the bleachers. A mass of the girls on our team followed her. She leaned forward to look past Riku at me. "Is it hard being so clueless?"

"I'm not so much clueless as I am new." I said with a smile.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes and did this annoying hair flip. "So Riku, what're you doing this weekend?" her eyes flirting with his. _Who cares? _I averted my attention to the field as Abysia droned on and on about herself.

Sora had just caught the ball and threw it back into the field and attempted to figure out the game. Sayo caught it and punted it to Tidus. I felt someone behind me tap my shoulder. It was Riyuno.

"Having trouble understanding what's going on in the game?" he said, getting up and sitting in the seat next to me.

"I don't really get the positions..." I halfway muttered, tilting my head as I gazed across the field. He pointed to the kid on the other team on the far left side of the field who had just caught the ball.

"He plays defensive and partners with Zel, the brunette guy in the front." Riyuno went on explaining what was the happening the whole game until the coach blew his whistle.

It was our turn. Oh Crap.

* * *

That's all for now. I'm currently working on redoing everything I have up until this point because I wanna change the way the story's going. Please read the earlier chapters because they will be drastically changed. Thank you! 


	7. Drip Drop

Aightt, onward we go! Man, I really wanna end the Destiny Island (DI) Chapters soon. I've already started the chapters after this so things should come a little faster when I'm over and done with DI. Wow, this chapter took me a while to type (Mostly because I reread it and scrapped six versions). I like how the final product came out. Um, you may wanna read this in pieces, it's a little on the long side. I hope to finish with DI in the next 2-3 chapters.

**Disclaimer:** DDR MONKEY! Dance my monkey, dance.

**_Chapter 7:_ Drip Drop**

_"You and I, the speed at which we walk, the scenery we see / Even the way in which we express ourselves, everything is different / For example, maybe you find a beautiful flower / In the place where I despaired / You're alive and I'm alive, that's all, that's everything" _

I stepped onto the grassy field that we were to play on. I was directed to stand in defensive position with Abysia on the opposite side of the field, Riku and Riyuno took offense, a girl with long, auburn hair in a pony tail was our goalie, and the rest of our team was scattered as midfield or center defense. The coach stood between our team and the opposing team with the blitzball. At the sound of his whistle, he threw the ball high in the air. Our team had possession of the ball first; Riyuno was able to punt it out of the air before the other team even moved. He passed it to Riku who quickly threw it to a big, strong guy playing midfield. This guy spun and threw the ball right into the goal. Score!

I reasoned that the coach had given us such a strong offense in an attempt to keep me from playing. Fair enough, in my opinion, because I had no idea what I was doing anyway. I watched from the defensive side as Riyuno scored a few more points. The girls on the sidelines cheered like crazy every time he or Riku scored a goal. Ah, the normal teenage ogling... Sexy, star sports players are in every school and their fan girls reign supreme. Back at my school, we had a few of those. I never found them to be that attractive, partially because we had the ugliest kids ever. Instead, I'd go guy shopping at the mall with my friends. Now, the mall had so many hotties. I wondered what high school _those_ guys went to, because they sure didn't go to mine.

"Heads up!" the big, strong dude playing midfield yelled. The goalie on the opposing side had caught and thrown the ball to one of their offensive players who was now about to make a shot at our goal from my side. He threw the ball pretty hard in my direction toward the goal. I decided to attempt to chip it like I had learned in soccer. I positioned myself to intersect the ball's current course. In a split second, the ball connected with my foot and I sent it flying to an offensive player on our team... Who just happened to be on the other side of the field. Obviously, I had gotten stronger since last time I played soccer. I mean, it really wasn't _that_ far of a kick. It was nothing compared to what the guys had been doing all through the game, but for some reason everyone froze as the ball came to a halt.

"Was that an illegal pass?" I asked. No response. _Did I screw up the game?_ "Um, I'm sorry!" I quickly apologized. The Coach blew his whistle.

"Continue, the pass was legal." he announced.

"Um, alright. I got it." the kid I had passed to called. He threw the ball in the air and the game went back into play. I still felt mildly embarrassed for some reason. _Augh, just shake it off._ I told myself and continued to watch the ball. This time, the other team attempted to score from Abysia's side of the field. She just stood there and didn't pay much attention as the ball rolled around in her proximity. _Was this what I was supposed to do?_

The other team made a shot at out goal and the goalie just barely caught it. She weakly threw the ball to Riku who tossed it in the air. Then, he did a back-flip-kick that nailed the ball into the other goal. Once again, the coach blew his whistle; this time it was extremely loud.

"Game's over. The winners are Team A!" he announced. My team cheered and I clapped a bit. However, I still was very confused about my pass earlier. _Ask someone later.._. I told myself. Soon after, we were dismissed to change. As I walked to the changing room with Kairi, a few of the girls came up to me to chat. Well, more like ask me a dozen questions. _I hope I have advil in my TDS..._

_**Riku's POV**_

I walked with Sora to the locker room. That game was amazing. Not only did we win, but the new girl showed some skill. Riyuno's muttering during the game had begun to wear on my nerves, however. That, along with the shock of her kick caused us to momentarily pause the game. _I hope Coach didn't hear anything, though I doubt he did._

"Hey Riku, did you see that kick Passion did? She's a _girl_, but not like the ones around here!" Sora said to me as we entered the room.

"Yeah, but she looked really surprised after. Think she meant to?" I responded.

"I don't know; it was cool, though!" he exclaimed as we got to our lockers.

"She really is an amazing girl," Riyuno interrupted, "I wouldn't mind getting to know her better..." he said with a wild grin.

"You ain't the only one, Riyuno!" Gabe called. He had played center on Riku's team during the game. "Man, she was lookin' pretty sweet out there." He walked over to us with his shirt draped over his shoulder. He threw a punch at Riyuno's shoulder. "You wanna add this chick to your list?" Every time we got a new girl Riyuno did the same thing; he made his best attempt to get her, then dumped her. He and Gabe continued talking about her as if she were an inanimate object. It began to irritate me.

"Her name's Passion." I reminded them. "Show some respect, okay?"

"Passion... That is a pretty hot name. I think I like her." Riyuno claimed while opening his locker and beginning to change.

"I don't think she's your type." Sora halfway muttered while putting his shirt on. I inwardly laughed at Sora's bluntness. This was one of the reasons we'd stayed such good friends, he was so easy to read and very lighthearted.

"You've known her for less than a week, how do you know what her type is, Sora?" he asked. "All girls go for the same type, it's easy to see."

"It's obviously not scum like you, Riyuno." I shot back, slamming my locker closed. _Shallow bastard._

"Whoa, calm down Riku." Gabe responded, "You've got Abysia, let Riyuno have Passion." I opened my mouth to say that Abysia and I were not together and I didn't want Passion, but Riyuno started in first.

"Unless this is a challenge, big tough Riku?" Riyuno snuffed. He shut his locker and put his hand on his hips. I didn't feel like a fight for a _girl_, especially not with Riyuno. He wasn't worth it today. I decided to back down.

"Are you kidding me? I don't have challenges over girls." I said and walked out of the room with Sora running to catch up, still buttoning his uniform shirt. We exited the gym and walked down the hall in silence. I felt my rage bubble down and just let it go. _No need to worry, only idiots fall for Riyuno._

"What was that all about?" he asked once we were out of Riyuno and Gabe's range. "You can take him! Why'd you back down?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it, Sora." I said and stretched my arms. "You played great earlier." _Good attempt at changing the subject..._

"Did you see me block all those throws? I hope Coach noticed!" Sora began to go on and on while we walked to our lockers. The bell announced that school was over for today, but we hadn't seen Kairi or Passion since the game. I figured they'd meet us here in a few minutes, so I began to fiddle with the lock on my locker. _What is it that I need again?_

"Hey guys!" I heard Kairi call from behind. Sora and I turned to greet her, expecting to see Passion. It seemed odd that she wasn't there.

"Kairi, where's Passion?" Sora asked.

"Hmm? Oh, she went to the nurse. She said she needed to ask about something called 'Adda Vill'. She's okay, though." Kairi said, "She's supposed to meet us out front in a few."

"Sora just has to get a some things from his locker and I wanted to grab a book before we left. Just give us a sec," I said.

"No problem." Kairi leaned against the locker next to mine. "Hey, what's this I heard about the locker rooms?" She demanded. I froze up.

"Eh, what'd you hear?" I asked, keeping my head in my locker.

"Wakka said you got upset. Why?" _Phew, she didn't know any details._

"The usual, Riyuno being an ass. He was criticizing my playing ability." I easily responded.

"Oh, alright. I was just curious." She laughed, "Ready to go?" I pulled my book out and shut my locker.

"Yep. Sora, you done?" I turned in the direction of his locker. He was staring into it with a weird expression. "What's up?" I asked. "Did you find a leftover sandwich or something?"

"No..." he responded, picking up something very carefully.

"What is it?" Kairi asked.

"A...note.'' he said, unfolding the paper, "I've never seen this before."

"What's it say?" I questioned. This note had sparked my curiosity. Did Sora have some sort of secret admirer? _I must be kidding myself..._

"It says, 'You have been challenged! Meet me on the coast at 7:45! Your honor depends on it!'" He paused and let out a sigh. "Who would wanna challenge me?" _Well that makes more sense, _I thought, _It must be from Tidus..._

"Yeah, you're not exactly difficult to beat..." I teased.

"Hey!" he fussed. Kairi smiled.

"He's right though, Sora. Who would wanna challenge you?" Kairi said, poking his cheek. "You're just a big softie."

"Cut it outtt, Kairi!" Sora batted her hand away and sighed again. "Shouldn't we go find Passion?" he grumbled, closing his locker.

"Sure, sure. Maybe she'll wanna see you later at this challenge." I coolly said, beginning to walk off in the other direction with Kairi following me. Muttering stuff under his breath, Sora followed us.

At the front door, there was no sign of Passion. We stopped and sat under a palm tree. The sun was still pretty high in the sky and breezes from the ocean would begin every once in a while. Sora and Kairi began a conversation and I just let my thoughts wander. Getting off the island would be very important, but would a raft be suitable enough? _I'm sure if I run into any complications, I can fix them.._. _Now, how will I get past my mom with this one? She's already a little suspicious... _I felt someone tap my shoulder, so I averted my attention to the source of the tap; it was Sora.

"Do you think she's still in the nurse's room?" Sora asked, gazing around the field.

"Could be, but then what's taking her so long?" Kairi bluntly responded while combing back a piece of her hair.

"Maybe she got lost?" I offered.

"Well, it's right down the hall..." Sora shrugged, "Maybe the nurse is chatting. You know how she likes to do that."

"Yeah, you're right." Kairi said. Another ocean breeze swept past us and we watched as a cloud blocked the sun providing temporary shade. _It looks like a cow..._

"Hey guys! Sorry I had you wait so long." Passion called from our left. She had exited from the side hallway with... Riyuno? I averted my eyes away from his challenging gaze; there was no need to start a fight here or now. Instead, I flipped open my book and leaned against the wall.

"Hey Passion, did you find out what you needed to know?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah," she responded, "They don't have any Advil here, but there are some herbal remedies I can use. I'm just glad the nurse mildly knew what I was talking about. She took a while explaining things though. That's why I took so long."

"What's wrong, anyway?" Sora questioned, "You don't look injured or sick..."

"She has a headache," Riyuno bluntly stated, "I offered to help her get the herbs today."

"Umhmm, " Passion said, "I bumped into him after I left the nurse's room. You guys don't mind, do you?" I could feel Sora shift his gaze toward me, but I remained nonchalant.

"Of course not." I said and continued to read the pages of the book I had pulled from my locker. It was about traditions on this island, one was coming up and I had a project due on it. It was a pretty interesting festival, done at night with bonfires and fire dancers. The festivities began in four days and lasted for three. It started with a large family and friends dinner on the first day, followed by an all day tournament, and then on the last day there was a huge bonfire for the whole island. It was always such a great event; the previous year I had won my division tournament and I looked forward to beating my competition this year.

"Just make sure you meet me at my house at seven," Sora was saying, "I have a challenge and you gotta watch."

"Alright, no problem. It shouldn't take that long." Passion responded. "I guess I'll see you guys later, then?"

"Yep!" Kairi and Sora both said. I could feel them waiting for me to say something.

"See ya." I blankly responded and didn't look up from the book. I could sense that my detached actions were vexing Riyuno, which was just swell for me.

"Let's go, " Riyuno said. With that, they left us. After a few minutes of silence, Sora yanked the book from my hands.

"What was that all about?" he demanded.

"What was what all about?" I questioned.

"You know what I'm talking about. Didn't you just finish saying-"

"Eh, who cares. It's just some herbs, Sora. It's fine." I didn't let him finish the sentence and swiftly took my book back.

"I feel like I'm missing something..." Kairi said, "What are you two talking about?"

"It's nothing; I think I'm going home to finish this project." I said while waving the book a little in the air. "See you guys at seven." I grinned and walked off while Sora shouted a few words in my direction. I held up my hand without turning around to signal I was done talking. No need to let them see me angered, keep it cool...

_I just hate Riyuno. _

_**Sora's POV**_

I watched as Riku walked off in a semi-huff.

"Soraaa," Kairi said, "You guys aren't telling me something. Spill now." Kairi gave me a very stern look. Oh man, she's gonna hit me if I don't tell her...

"Well," I sighed, "In the locker room Riyuno started talking about how girls from other worlds are hot. I dunno, he was being a pig head. Riku got upset, so now I think Riyuno's trying to get Passion or something to piss Riku off more."

"Riyuno's just obsessed with himself; is it something to worry about?"

"Well, Riku usually doesn't get upset with Riyuno over stupid things. I just don't trust him with her." I said, mildly worried about Riyuno being alone with Passion in the market. He had a pretty bad reputation for using girls and, as Gabe had put it, Passion was on his list. "Do you want to keep an eye on them for a while?"

"You mean spy?" Kairi asked and grinned wide, "Of course."

The walk to the Market was an easy one, just down the dirt road and over a few hills. Kairi and I walked in a comfortable silence, enjoying the warm ocean air and mountains in the background. Our island was truly a beautiful paradise, yet they still were eager to get off of it. Maybe it was the seclusion this island had. Contact with other towns was limited and usually only on special days, not to mention Kairi's mysterious world, which was probably located somewhere off this trap. I gazed toward her smiling face that was focused on the clouds. Rain weather was predicted for tomorrow and it was becoming obviously true with the gathering clouds and increasing ocean winds. The storm was supposed to be semi-serious, so there was a flood warning going out. I just hoped it'd be dry in time for the Fire Festival.

We neared the bustling square and could immediately smell the food stands. The aromas coming from these foods caused my stomach to grumble and I realized I hadn't eaten since lunch. I could see freshly roasted bird and fish, tons of pastries, hot breads, and various other delicious foods. _Sooo hungry..._

"Kairi, can we top and eattt?" I moaned, feeling the urge to consume everything in sight.

"You get so hungry, Sora! Lunch was only two hours ago!" she laughed, giving me a sharp open-handed slap on the back.

"I can't help it. I'll just get something quick, okay?" Without waiting for a response, I ran to the nearest food stand. They were selling my favorite cinnamon muffins, so I quickly bought three. The first I shoved in my mouth and finished in a matter of seconds. _That's better.._. I said to my stomach. The second one I could finish slower. I caught back up with Kairi who was examining the directory. "Here!" I said, handing her a muffin.

"Oh, thank you!" She took a small nibble out of it. "We need to go down this path," she said, pointing to the upper right path, "And then go left at the first fork. That should take us to the herbal stands."

"Right." With Kairi around, I never got lost. She had a very good sense of direction, which I lacked. She led the way to the herbal stands, a surprisingly quick walk. However, it was very chaotic in this area. There were tons of older women bargaining, selling, complaining, and laughing. Usually my mom was the one who did the shopping, so it was very surprising to see so many people here.

"Hmm, I wonder what stands they're at. Let's just scan around for now, okay?" Kairi said, beginning to walk into the crowd.

"Wait!' I said, "What if we bump into them? We have to be careful not to get seen." I nodded toward a large box of crates nearly lining the area. "If we walk behind those, we can still see. Then, once we find them, we just be careful."

"Great idea, Sora!" Kairi exclaimed, giving me a big smile. She made my stomach do flips when she smiled at me like that. Riku always made fun of me because he said I blushed like a girl. _Well, I'm not the one with the long hair, am I?_ I mentally stored that as a comeback for him next time. Kairi began tugging at my arm. "Come on, let's go." she said, leading me behind the crates. We walked, peering through the gaps in the crates. No one seemed to notice us, which was great.

"Hey, I see Riyuno!" I said, recognizing the male school uniform. I pointed over toward a stand that was selling some roots.

"Umhmm, Passion's with him." Kairi noticed. We watched them pick through the root selections before they finally settled on one. It was amusing, Riyuno was hitting on her and she appeared to be completely oblivious. After a while, they moved on to another stand. After a small conversation, Riyuno left Passion and walked toward another stand selling things in bottles. He was relatively close to Kairi and I, so we remained absolutely silent in an attempt to hear.

"Paupo ---- ----ttled. -reat po---n, re---y ch----" I heard the sales clerk say over the loud bustle of the area. Wait, paupo? Is he getting some kind of love potion?

"Kairi, " I whispered, "He's buying bottled paupo juice..."

"Yeah, but doesn't the legend say the _fruit_ must be shared?" she responded.

"I'm sure the juice would work too... Hey, after he leaves lets go check out that stand, okay?" I looked in her direction. Kairi looked at me and nodded. A few minutes after Riyuno walked away, we casually walked up to the stand.

"Do you have any bottled paupo juice?" I asked the old lady. She grinned wide to reveal a missing tooth.

"Why yes, we do. It's great for adding a kick to special recipes." She lowered her voice, "Legend has it, the paupo juice makes it easier to get the person you like to like you back." The old lady tilted her head toward Kairi's direction and whispered in my ear, "If you're having trouble getting her, just use this." I could feel my cheeks get warm as I began to blush.

"Uh, n-no, that's alright. I was just wondering." I said and then stiffly walked off. _Why did everyone seem to know I liked her?_

_**Passion's POV**_

I gazed warily at the new roots that sat in front of me. _Now, what type did I need?_ All of them looked the same and Riyuno had just wandered off_. Shall I cheat and use some magic to decide?_ The stand owner had been ignoring me and didn't seem to care that I had no clue what I was doing. I held my hand over one of the roots that were set in front of me. I hoped one of the first two I chose were correct because I could feel that my magic stores were extremely low. It was probably because I had yet to fully recover from the large-scale shield spell I had cast. I felt the warmth quickly leave my hand, replaced by a cool tingly feeling as I absorbed the healing powers this plant held.

It seemed that it could cure tooth pains, menstrual cramps, and headaches. _I guess this is the one I'm looking for._ I could feel the old woman in charge of the stand growing suspicious of my actions, even though she could see no magic. I smiled at her.

"I'll take it," I said, presenting her with my munny. She suspiciously looked over my coins before accepting them and handing me the root. I thanked her and walked to the stand next to me. Riyuno still hadn't come back and, to be honest, I was happy. It was becoming increasingly difficult to play 'oblivious' to his constant hitting on me, especially with Sora and Kairi spying on me. I inwardly sighed while playing with one of the crystals on display, turning the edges so each glowed blue and then green. Riyuno was obviously the school man-whore, he had girls constantly swooning at his feet. And I was one he had yet to hypnotize. Guys like him just want to rule the world; they think they're kings_. I don't even want a boyfriend at this point; my schedule is too full. _I told myself, _Who needs one anyway? It's a waste of time._

"Would you like to purchase that stone?" the sales clerk kindly asked. I blinked out of my daze.

"Uh, yeah. I guess." I looked at the price. 400 munny. No big deal. I pulled the munny out of my bag and handed it to the lady. She shook her head and wouldn't take it. I felt extremely confused.

"You're the girl from the other world, right?" she asked. I responded with a nod. "Then it's free. Think of it as a gift! Thank you so much for stopping that wave." She smiled and shook my hand.

"No problem." I grinned back at her. I guess that not everyone on this island hated me after all. As if to agree, a small breeze rustled through my hair. I gazed toward the sky, seeing clouds gather around the bright sun. It'd probably be raining tonight. I really hoped it would, the rain always made me feel closer to home. I walked over to a nearby table and sat, waiting for Riyuno to return as people came in and out of this section. In about a minute, Riyuno rejoined me. We talked for a while about this world. He had some information I found useful, but most was pointless teenage things. Soon, we headed back home. I knew he hadn't noticed Kairi or Sora, which was for the best. _Let them think they know something special_, I decided.

As I entered my empty apartment, I glanced at the clock. It said six, so I had time to change before meeting Sora. I went to my drawer and pulled out a pair of jeans. The wind had begun to pick up and the warmth would soon cool as the clouds got thicker. I decided to wear a fitted tee figuring I'd be fine without a jacket. After I finished cleaning up my room and changing, the clock said it was 6:30, which meant I should head down to Sora's house in fifteen minutes. That gave me just enough time to crush the roots and make some headache medicine. I took my time to thoroughly crush the roots and add them to some tea I had prepared earlier. In one quick drink, I downed the entire glass of headache medicine.

"There, that should make it better, " I told myself as I slipped on my shoes. It was around 6:45, so I left my apartment and began walking to Sora's house. The wind had really picked up and rustled angrily through my hair. If this island wasn't so naturally hot, I would have been freezing. As I neared Sora's house, I saw Riku walking a bit ahead of me.

"Hey Riku!" I called to him. He turned around just as another gust of wind began. His silver hair was tussled in the strong breeze, but he remained unaffected. I, however, was struggling to walk against the ripping winds. It took me a few seconds to catch up to him. "Are storms usually like this?" I asked. He just nodded. "How bad is this one supposed to be?"

"We'll be in a flood warning tomorrow, but I doubt it' anything to get too worried about. Storm season will be over in a few days; the worst has already passed." he responded.

"That's good, I like the rain." We walked in silence for the rest of the way to Sora's the house. As we approached the steps, Sora and Kairi burst out of the house.

"I'm ready for this!" Sora yelled into the neighborhood, holding up his wooden sword. Kairi gently pat him on the back.

"That's right, you can do it Sora!" she said.

"Don't encourage him, " Riku mumbled, "He'll only get sloppy."

"Heyy! I can do this! I've been training really hard!" he defensively said.

"Well, I hope you're okay with fighting in the rain," I said while looking at the clouds, "It's gonna start pouring in a few seconds."

"How do you-" Sora began as small raindrops fell and landed on him. "Oh crap!"

"Don't worry, " I said, "If you hurry with the battle, we can get back before it down pours. That won't happen for twenty to thirty minutes." This was partly a guess; I wasn't accustomed to the weather on this world, but based off of Earth, twenty to thirty minutes was reasonable. _What about that huge wave? It happened within a few minutes, no warning. That could mean the weather here is erratic so you could be off..._

"In that case, we'd better hurry!" Sora said, his perky attitude unchanged_. Nothing can get this kid down._

"Alright, let's go." Riku said as he shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk off. The three of us were right behind him, marching through the droplets of diamond that fell from the sky. This island was so beautiful in the rain; the rampaging winds helped created a dramatic sense in an over-all calm environment. As if listening to me, a huge gust of wind mixed with raindrops pelted my face, followed by a large leaf.

"Ahh," I complained while pulling it off, "So gross."

"Unlucky, unlucky." Riku stated.

"The weather's sure starting to pick up," Kairi said while raising her voice a little, "You sure you still want to fight?" She was right; people were quickly heading inside as we passed them on the street. There were only ten people, as far as could see, who were still walking outside. Even they seemed to be in a hurry to go somewhere.

"Of course I'm still going to fight," Sora responded, "I know I can do it."

"That's the spirit, Sora!" I said, "You have enough time, just take 'em down as fast as you can." I could faintly see Sora through the corner of my eye nod as we continued our fast walking pace.

We soon arrived at the island's shore. Waiting for us was a young boy, probably ten, with four male friends. I had never seen them before, but I guessed Sora knew them.

"Who are you?" Sora called to the children. _Or not. _The young boy began slowly walking toward us.

"You beat my brother last year unfairly! It's time you lose!" the boy angrily shouted while he pulled out his weapon, a scythe fashioned out of wood. I looked at Sora, who seemed utterly confused.

"Wait, your brother? When was this!" he shouted back, over the wind.

"At the last Fire Festival Tournament! You cheated, how else could someone as bad as you win?" the boy called while the wind whipped through the sand. From what I could see, this kid was tiny and didn't have any fighting ability for he held the sword loosely at his side with incorrect grip. It would be an easy win for anyone.

"What are you talking about?" Sora responded, "I didn't cheat last year! I barely made it through the preliminaries."

"It's true," Riku agreed, "Plus, Sora wouldn't cheat to win; he's not that type of a person."

"He still beat my brother unfairly!" The young boy took a mimicked fighters stance. "I will defeat you." Suddenly, the rain doubled in amount; the sky had begun to pour.

"Jin! We should go home! Do this later!" One of his friends yelled. They obviously were afraid of the oncoming storm.

"That's probably a good idea, the rain's going to get worse!" I shouted through the wind. My hair was completely soaked and my clothes would have been too, if I hadn't waterproofed them the day before. That didn't stop the water from covering my skin, though. I noticed that Kairi and Riku's hair were experiencing the same 'rain tussled' hair look as mine. Sora was the only one of us whose hair remained unchanged. The young boy was beginning to appear flustered.

"I'll make a deal with you!" Sora called to him, "I'll fight you fair and square at the Fire Festival if we stop this one!"

"I'll only stop if you promise to re-fight my **brother** and not cheat this time!"

"I didn't cheat last time!"

"Yes you did!"

"Fine, I promise!" Sora said, trudging back to us through the rain. Huge waves crashed on shore causing me to be pelted with raindrops _and_ ocean water.

"Can we go now?" I called toward Riku, even though he stood only a few feet away from me.

"Yeah. Sora! Kairi! Let's go!" he yelled as we began to walk back home. It was a really long walk; the water in the street was up to my ankles already and rapidly increasing. Looks like we were going to have a little flood. Riku's house was closest to where we currently were; as soon as we neared it, everyone ran to the steps.

Finally being inside was a huge relief. All of us took off our shoes and left them by the door. Then, Riku got some towels and handed them to us.

"Phew, glad that's over." Sora mumbled while taking a seat on Riku's couch. "Wow, it's already 8:30; I guess we'll stay here until the storm dies down?"

"Yeah, whenever that is…" Riku said while looking out of a window. The storm was really violent outside; drops of rain and bits of leaves spattered onto the window as the winds ripped around the island. Kairi and I joined Sora on the couch once we had finished drying our hair.

"I doubt we'll be out by tonight," Kairi began, "The storm's supposed to last most of tomorrow."

Just then, the phone rang. Riku walked to the kitchen to pick it up. While he talked on the phone, Kairi and Sora debated whom the kid's older brother was. They didn't even recognize the child and Sora could barely remember the matches.

"Alright, goodbye." Riku said as he hung up the phone.

"Who was it?" Sora asked.

"My mom. She said that the storm had kept her at her friends house and that she'd be back when it calmed down."

"Does it usually storm like that?" I asked, pointing to the window.

"Once or twice a year." Kairi responded, "This is probably the second worse one we've had this year.

"Oh." I said. It made sense, anyway. This was an island after all.

"So…" Riku said, "Do you guys wanna watch a movie?" I nodded my head vigorously.

"Which one?" Kairi asked. Riku reached into a shelf under a box that resembled a TV.

"How about, _Twenty Places_?" He held up the case, "It's a comedy about a boy with terrible luck."

"I like that movie!" Kairi exclaimed, "Yeah, let's watch that one."

"Sounds interesting," I remarked and Sora agreed with me.

"It's a really good movie." he said, "I think you'll like it."

"Alrighty then, we're watching this one." Riku said while putting the video sphere in a holder in the TV. _So, this world uses spheres like other worlds too..._ Not only was Destiny Island Earth-like, but it also shared qualities that other worlds did. _I wonder if that has to do with the barriers between worlds... Maybe they were all connected at one time. _Riku sat next to me on the couch as the movie started. It was animated, done in what would be considered 'anime' style on Earth. Overall, I was very impressed with the artwork despite this world's limitations in electricity. It started out in a small town in a forest. The main character was a teenage brunette boy who possessed incredibly bad luck, so bad he ran away from home. Along the way, he met a girl who didn't seem to notice his bad luck, an enchanted cat, and various other quirky characters. It was a really good move and the musical arrangements practically knocked my socks off.

The movie lasted about an hour and a half. When it ended, the storm was still brutally rampaging outside in the dark streets. It was 10:15 and the water appeared to still be several inches above the ground.

"I guess we're stuck here for the night," Sora slowly said, "So... What to do now?"

"We could-" Kairi abruptly stopped her sentence as the lights went out. "Play...A...Game?"

"The rain must have shut off a power station." Riku said, "I'll go find some light stones," In the dark, I heard him get up and leave the room.

"So, uh, what game?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Well, it'd have to be a board game now." Kairi said with a sigh, "I doubt Riku has any though. He's so old." _Riku does seem too mature for board games, _I thought to myself as I felt my eyes beginning to adjust to the darkness. After a while, I could faintly see Kairi's form, however, Sora was missing.

"Hey Sora, you still in here?" I asked, incase I just couldn't see him. No one responded.

"Sora?" Kairi called, moving over on the couch to where he had been sitting. "He was just here..."

"Maybe he went with Riku?" I suggested. "That'd make sense, right?"

"Yeah, I wonder when they'll be back with those lights." Kairi said. We sat in silence for a few moments.

"So, what was this I heard about a Fire Festival?" I asked.

"It's an old island tradition. It's a three-day long celebration coming up in a few days. There's a big family dinner the first day, then a tournament the next, and on the last day, we have a huge bonfire. That's the best part, I think. It has lots of dancing and food. Plus the fires look beautiful."

"Sounds schweet. We didn't have anything like that in Maryland. At least, my area didn't." I said. We began talking about celebrations on Earth and found we had a few in common. They actually had Christmas that was nearly identical to Earth's. We had been talking in the dark for several minutes and the boys weren't back yet.

"Passion, we should go look for Riku and Sora." Kairi said and I could hear her get up.

"Good idea." I said as I got up. "I can kind of see now, so that should make it easier to find them. Where do you think they'd be?"

"Probably Riku's room or in his basement."

"Do you wanna split up?"

"Sure, it'd make this whole thing go a lot faster."

"I guess I'll take the basement, " I said, not wanting to go intruding into his room.

"Okay! I'll meet you back here in a few."

"Yep," I said and we parted. Once I was at the top of the stairs, I sat down on my bum. The stairs looked very dark and very steep, so I wasn't going to risk falling down them. Very slowly and quietly, I made my way down the stairs. As soon as I was sure was at the bottom, I stood and walked forward. From what I could make out, his basement was huge. I stumbled around in the dark until I found a wall. Following it, I periodically called out Riku and Sora's names. My call was nearly a whisper for my panic state of mind kept me from getting loud.

_Suck it up chicken, _I told myself. _You've fought tons of enemies, why are you still afraid of the dark?_ It was true; I really shouldn't be worried about being in the dark. "Riku! Sora!" I harshly whispered. I didn't hear anything and I began to doubt that either of them was down here. I released the wall and began wandering toward what I thought was the door. I held both my hands a few inches in front of me.

Suddenly, I felt something wrap around my hands. As a reaction, I stiffened up. The hands that were grabbing mine released.

"Hey, don't worry. It's me." Riku said. I sighed with relief.

"You scared me there. I came down here looking for you and Sora."

"Sora? He wasn't with me when I left. I was down here looking for one of my old board games," he said.

"Oh, so you heard Kairi…"

"Yeah, I'm not _that_ old. I still have games… somewhere."

"Did you find any?"

"No, not yet. I did find a few light stones, though."

"Why haven't you put any on?" I pondered out loud.

"I don't really need them. Here." Riku handed me one. I pressed the soft spot on the bottom and it lit up, casting eerie shadows in this huge basement. I noticed I was standing in front of a medium sized walk-in closet. Riku walked inside of it and gestured for me to follow. I stepped in and looked around. On the shelves, there were several boxes. "This is where my mom keeps the stuff from when I was a kid," he said, pulling down a box. "I'm pretty sure it's in here." Riku opened the box and began carefully pulling out various objects. I sat down next to him and looked at them. Some were pictures of him, Sora, and Kairi when they were children; somewhere old toys; and two were stuffed animals. They were both dogs, one was tan with a pink bow and the other was a slightly lighter tan with a blue collar.

"These are so cute!" I said while picking them up and hugging them. Riku glanced up from the box.

"Those bring back memories. They were my very first two stuffed animals; I think I got them when I was one."

"Wow," I said, "That's like my Dudley. I got him when I was born, but as soon as I got older, he was packed away." Riku smiled and then went back to looking through the box. It seemed like he had found something and he gracefully pulled it out of the box.

"Found it!" he exclaimed examining the box. I scooted next to Riku and peered over his shoulder. The image on the box looked oddly like Twister, except there were more colors in random places. It was probably a lot harder than normal Twister.

"That's looks really fun!"

"Yep, when I was younger I used to play it with Sora and Kairi, we'd have mini competitions." He sat the box aside and began putting the pictures and toys back in the box. I released the stuffed animals from my hug and went to put them in the box. "You can hold onto them," Riku said while handing them back to me, "It probably gets lonely here for you." I was going to disagree, but I knew he was right. Being alone on a planet, cut off from everything that was familiar to me was very lonely. I gently set the two dogs next to me.

"Thank you so much!" I wrapped my arms around his waist and gave him the best sitting-down-hug I could. I felt him laugh and then hug me back.

"It's nothing."

After we put away the box and carried everything upstairs, we began to look for Kairi and Sora. We figured that they were still upstairs, which was confirmed when we heard Kairi's scolding voice.

"-scaring me like that! You big dummy!" we heard he say from Riku's room. We exchanged hesitant glances before opening the door. Our light stones illuminated the room to reveal Kairi and Sora standing in the middle of the room. Kairi explained that Sora had snuck up on her, thinking she was Riku. We just laughed at Sora while we set light stones around Riku's room.

It was a decently large room; the floor was finished hardwood and there was a sliding door leading out to a deck on the far left side of the room. His bed was slightly off center, toward the right side of the room. It had a very mature set up, not a single thing was out of place. It was almost as if he never came in here.

"We can just sleep in here," Riku said, "I have some extra blankets in the closet."

"Hey, what's this?" Sora asked while picking up the box. "It can't be… Tangler! This is so old!"

"Yeah I know, it was the only one I could find." Riku muttered, "I know I have more… I just can't find them."

"How do you play it?" I asked. "Is it like, a spinner that has colors and you put your foot or hand where the color lands?"

"Yeah, and you play against one other person. Whoever falls first loses. Do you have a game like this or something on Earth?"

"Sort of, except it's a tad bit easier. We have fewer colors and they're all set up in rows."

"I think you'll love this, then. Let's set it up," Kairi said as she opened the box and pulled out the spinner. The spinner was almost identical to Twister, except it had four more colors; light purple, brown, black, and gray. Sora and Riku unfolded the large mat with the random assortment of colors.

"Who goes first?" Sora asked, "We could have the winner of each round versus each other, so that means three rounds. I guess it could be Riku and me; Kairi and Passion."

"Ladies first," Kairi and I both said at the same time. We stepped onto the mat, each of us on opposite sides. After only ten minutes, we were hopelessly tangled. My left leg was several circles in front of my right leg, but further right than my right leg was. The only stable things were my hands; they were positioned behind me and parallel to each other, providing me with balance. From what I could see of Kairi, her left foot was nearly touching my face and her right arm was stretched over my torso to reach the brown dot on that side. She was shaking like crazy and I figured I was doing the same.

"Left hand blue." Riku read from the spinner. This would be easy; it required me to move my left arm just two spaces down. I did this in a swift motion. Kairi had it not so easy. Her left arm looked like it had kept her balanced until this moment. If she switched her weight so it rested on her left leg and right arm, she could still move her left arm up five spots easily. Obviously this strategy didn't occur to her. She tried putting all the weight on her right arm and sloppily moved her left arm toward the blue dot. Her right arm immediately started shaking uncontrollably and then collapsed, sending her body hard into the ground.

"Passion wins! Nice try, Kairi!" Sora said while helping her up, "You were close." Kairi laughed and mumbled about how this was never her kind of game as Riku helped me up. After a bit of small talk, Riku and Sora took their positions on the mat. In the first five minutes, Sora was desperately in need of assistance. His body was strung out all over the mat and he was in an awkward position that wouldn't hold him for long. Riku was the opposite; he was quite comfortably positioned in push-up form. Sure enough, the next hand-foot location completely shattered Sora. He attempted to move his right foot two dots ahead, but couldn't move it far enough and fell.

"Aw man!" he exclaimed from his spot on the floor, "I almost had it too!" We all began laughing at Sora. He sighed. "Oh well, looks like it's Passion against Riku."

"Yep!" I said, "And I'll win this one." Riku raised one eyebrow.

"Good luck with that. I don't plan on losing."

"That makes two of us." I said as I took my place on one side of the mat. Twenty minutes into the game and neither of us were weakening. However, it didn't stop the whole thing from being awkward. Riku was stretched over top of me and I was in a bridge-like position. A few more spins caused our arms to be hopelessly tangled.

"Right hand green." Kairi called. The only green dot near me was a few dots to the left. I quickly moved my hand to that dot as Riku moved his hand to it. I felt as his big hand overlapped my small one. This came as such a surprise to both of us that we fell. Because of how I was positioned, I fell on my back and Riku landed on top of me. I felt my heart race at this moment. His hand still overlapped mine for a second before he quickly got up, obviously as embarrassed as I was.

"Tie!" Sora and Kairi deemed having not seen why we fell.

"Fair enough," Riku muttered begnning to walk off, "I'm going to go get some blankets now. It's almost midnight." We watched as he disappeared out of the room.

"I think I'll fold this up," I said while grabbing the mat. Kairi and Sora helped me fold it into a small square and pack it back into the box. The moment we finished this, Riku returned carrying a lot of large blankets. He dropped these onto the floor next to the bed.

"You two can have the bed," he said while pointing to Kairi and me. "Sora and I will sleep on the floor." I could see Sora's jaw drop.

"No fair! Your floor is hard!"

"That's why we have blankets, Sora." Riku pointed to them. Sora pouted while setting up his bed and then paused.

"What are we supposed to sleep in?" he asked. I hadn't thought of this. I couldn't get something out of my TDS, everything in there were either jeans or skirts. Kairi was in a skort that did not look sleep-able and Sora was in khaki's.

"I guess you guys could borrow some of my clothes?" Riku said while bringing a light stone to his closet. He opened the door to reveal many neatly hung T-Shirts and folded pants. "I have plenty of clothes." _What a metro, _I thought to myself, _I don't even have that many clothes!_

"I only need pants," Sora said while grabbing a pair. I agreed and stepped up to the closet to examine them. I looked for a pair that seemed like they could fit me. _Thank goodness his pants aren't too big for me… _I easily found a blue pair that looked comfortably.

"I guess I'll go change in the bathroom," I said, taking a light stone, "I'll only be a second." I opened the door that led to the dark bathroom. As soon as I closed the door, I turned on the light stone and set it in the counter. The tiles in the bathroom were a gray-stone color and the walls were done in a coffee color with shell designed wall paper. I quickly pulled off my jeans and slipped on Riku's pants. They were a little baggier than I expected, but, for the most part, they hung like sweats. I folded my jeans and then left the bathroom. As soon as I was out, Kairi was in and changed in a split second. Sora and Riku had already changed in another room, so we were all ready for bed.

Kairi and I sat on Riku's bed while he and Sora turned off all the light stones (except one for little Sora-chan). As the room grew dark, it seemed the sound of rain grew louder. I could hear it pound against the roof as if it would never let up. I patted the two stuffed animals that sat next to me. I was still a kid in so many ways, yet my mature side often overtook my innocence. _Why can't I just be normal? I really shouldn't even think about these things..._ Soon the room was completely void of light, except for one small spot of light where Sora chose to keep the light stone. Darkness usually either mildly scared or comforted me. In this case, I was calm.

I could hear Sora and Riku fiddle with their makeshift beds as they lay down.

"G'night, guys." Sora said with a yawn.

"Night." I responded as I sunk into the warm blankets.

"Sleep tight," I heard Riku say.

"Don't let the bed bugs bite," Kairi finished. This was all followed by a comfortable silence. I let my mind drift before I fell asleep. _These blankets smell nice... They make me feel safe._ I didn't think I would be having another nightmare, another forced dream. No, not in this kind of peace.

* * *

OH MY GOD THIS TOOK ME SO LONG TO TYPE. Having a hurt arm sucks major balls. Sigh, I wanna get off of DI soon! I keep saying that. Oh well. My birthday's soon, hurray. I hope to be at least to Wonderland by the time KH2 comes out here in the states (March 28!). That way, I can really get a 3-D plot out of this! I'm going to add a few more characters; friends of mine mostly. I can't wait until I get to Traverse Town for that one... 


	8. A Little While

**Oh wow. Must finish… Nyahh!!**

**Disclaimer: Life sucks. Get over it.**

**Chapter 8:** **A Little While**

I felt beams of light dance over my closed eyes. Slowly, I opened them and greeted the day. I didn't recognize the room I was in at first, but then I remembered the storm. Things seemed to be clear today. I sat up in bed and looked around seeing everyone was still asleep. I figured it was around 6 or 7, so it would be best not to wake them. Carefully, I slipped out of bed and tip toed over to the deck. I pulled back the blinds that blocked the light and looked out the window. I could see some trees blown over and a lot of extra water running in the street. I quietly opened the slider door and stepped out onto the deck. The warm water that had gathered on his wooden deck tickled my bare feet. The sun shone brightly on this warm day full of after-rain and ocean smells. I could get used to living on an island like this... _No, _I stopped myself; _you will not get attached here. You don't belong._ I sighed.

"It would be nice though," I said out loud.

"What would?" Riku asked. I spun around, not knowing he had been awake.

"Oh, nothing. I'm sorry I just needed some air and-" I quickly said. I was mildly embarrassed he had been out here and caught me talking to myself. _See? Everyone's gonna think you're crazy._

"Its fine, you can hang out here as long as you'd like." Riku stood beside me on the deck. "It's a really nice day after that storm."

"Yep." I agreed. We stood in silence for a few moments before Riku spoke.

"So, how's your headache feeling? Did you get what you needed?" _Ah, the herbs. Riyuno... Augh. _I could tell Riku wasn't very fond of him, but that wasn't any of my business.

"Yeah, but I have a question." I paused.

"Go ahead."

"What's a Paupo?" I asked. I had seen Riyuno buy some of the juice from a stand and then Sora almost bought some. _Maybe it's a guy thing? _It must have been because Riku almost flipped out.

"Who gave you a Paupo?! Did you eat it? Was it Riyuno? Because I swear-" he began. I waved my hands defensively.

"No one gave me one. I saw Riyuno buy some of the juice and then Sora was about to, but-"

"Sora was at the Market with you guys?" Riku raised one eyebrow.

"Well, not exactly. I'm pretty sure Kairi and him were spying on me, but they really have nothing to worry about. I can take care of myself."

"You're really independent, aren't you?" he asked. I smiled.

"Yep! It's in the job description." I tilted my head as I gazed at him, "So, what's a Paupo fruit?"

"Well," Riku began.

"Hey guys!" Sora interrupted.

"Good morning Sora!" I responded. He yawned as stretched.

"Morning, Sora." Riku muttered.

"Wow, it sure cleared up nicely today." Sora said, "Man, I'm starving." As if on cue, his stomach let out a grumble.

"I'll go make something." Riku volunteered. As he passed by me, he whispered, "I'll tell you later." I nodded and watched as he disappeared into the house.

"So, whatcha up to?" Sora asked, leaning on the deck rail.

"Just admiring the sunrise," I murmured. We stood in silence for a few seconds, gazing at the droplets of water falling from the palm trees.

"That was some storm last night." Kairi said as she joined us on the deck.

"Yeah," I agreed, "It's so beautiful today, too. " I looked out toward the horizon, watching a single puff of cloud drift through the sky.

"It probably won't rain for a while," Kairi said, "which means the Fire Festival is still a go!"

"_Which means _I'll be fighting that kid's brother," Sora sighed, "I don't even know who he is."

"I'm sure you'll recognize him, and then maybe what that kid said will make more sense." I responded.

"I barely remember who you fought, Sora. You didn't even get past the second round." Kairi laughed.

"Hey! I made it to the third round! Remember?"

"Second, third, same thing."

"How many rounds are there, anyway?" I asked.

"Twenty in total, including five for preliminaries. Last year, Sora made it past the preliminaries and up three rounds." Kairi explained.

"What about Riku?"

"He took first. Again." Sora muttered. "He's so good at fighting. One day, I'll be as good as he is."

"Good luck with that, Sora." Kairi laughed.

"I will! You'll see! This year, I'm going to win for sure. I've been training extra hard-"

"Breakfast's ready!" Riku yelled up to us. With Sora still rambling about how he'd gotten stronger, we went downstairs to the kitchen. I became a quiet observer, adding to the conversation when it permited me to. It was nice watching how they all got along. It was obvious to me that Sora and Riku were best friends; even though Riku constantly teased Sora, you could tell he really cared about him. And Kairi... I could tell she liked Sora and he liked her, even though neither had realized it yet. Life here seemed so together, so perfect.

_Are you jealous? _I heard a voice in my head ask, a voice I didn't recognize. The scenery around me blurred until it turned into complete darkness. My insides felt torn apart and shaken up; my head began to spin and disorient me. Around me, everything seemed really shaky and static-y; as if it were an old recording.

"What the-?"

_Jealous of something you will never have? I know I was; for a very, very long time._

"Who the hell are you?!" I called into the darkness.

_Those like us aren't meant to be happy. Accept your fate._

"What are you talking about? 'Those like us'?"

_You have yet to discover what lies within your nightmare, your euphoria._

"Hey, wait, what?" Just as quickly as it had begun, I was snapped into reality. No time had passed; Sora and Riku were still continuing their debate about Sora's ability to win this year. _Weird... It's like time stopped._

"You'll see; I can win this year." Sora said after shoving a pancake-like food item down his throat. I delicately cut a small piece out of mine before eating it, like Kairi. It tasted like a pancake, but with a dash of cinnamon and some other type of sweet tasting spice. The syrup, though, was identical to that of Earth. _Earth... I don't see why I'm comparing everything to there. It's not like it still exists._

"We need to work on the raft today," Kairi announced. "Tomorrow we'll have school, and then the weekend..."

"My mom's making me help my aunt and her with preparations for the Fire Festival, and then I have training for the tournament so I won't be able to help this weekend." Sora said while reaching for more pancakes. Kairi nodded and passed him more syrup.

"Me either, I volunteered all weekend to help the Mayor with organizing it." she said, looking toward Riku.

"I only have to train with Sora." Riku said, "I think that's it, unless my mom needs help with something."

"I'm not doing much either..." I muttered, feeling a little lonely. The culture here was something I had yet to adapt to; not to mention everyone here had a family to go home to. What did I have? _You don't need a family, just wait it out. You'll be outta here in a few days. _I reassured myself.

I knew I wouldn't.

**Later**

For most of the day, we worked hard on the raft. Now, I was at my apartment preparing to go to bed. It seemed like Riku had forgotten about explaining the Paupo thingy to me, which was fine. I wasn't about to remind him; I would rather find out myself. Not to mention I was still banking on my friends coming to save me. I sighed, sitting on the edge of my bed with my head in my hands.

Why me? Why me? Why couldn't I have still been on Earth and went down with everyone else? Then maybe, I'd still be with someone now. I wouldn't be so lost.

"And then I wouldn't have these cursed dreams and this damn weapon." I blamed the Keyblade partially for my dreams. It seemed to hold onto something that brought out the worst in me, something that tugged at both sides of my person. _And it's linked to the dreams..._ I knew the Keyblade had something to do with my dreams; I had seen it faintly in one of the first dreams I ever had. Although it was blurry and hard to see, I recognized it immediately. I stretched out on my bed. Last night, I hadn't had a dream. Were they finally ending? As much as I doubted this, I wanted it to be true. If they were indeed stopping, then I would finally be able to get a decent night's sleep.

I pulled my blanket over me as I began to drift off. The people here were nice, but I was holding back. _I thought I wanted to make new friends... But now I'm not so sure. I'm just kidding myself. Once I'm outta here, I'll never see these people again; so why does it matter? _And as I fell asleep, I realized that I may never be 'outta here'.

-----

_"What you did was entirely foolish and utterly stupid." An old man scolded. The white curtain that blocked my vision slowly disappeared. I was in some sort of open hallway, between a garden and a wall that I assumed belonged to a building. It was a high-up hallway, the garden being some 25 feet under us, so I guesstimated. That girl was here with her back to me. She must've been the one being scolded at._

_"But it worked," she muttered, nonchalant._

_"But you could have died! Stop taking unnecessary risks!"_

_"I know what I'm doing, Watanabe-sama."_

_"I'm beginning to doubt that," The old man paused as he took off his glasses and cleaned them, "We need you for the up coming weeks. You know-"_

_"I'll be fine." _

_'So she must be some type of fighter now. Or something. Wow, what a long way she's come since my last dream.' The girl turned around and walked away from the old man, passing right through me. This sent chills up my arm, a reminder that I wasn't here, but I couldn't move from where the dream put me. Now what; will I wake up? Much to my surprise, I didn't. Instead, I watched the old man (Watanabe-sama, she said I think). The details in this dream were far more exaggerated than in any other. He pulled out a piece of paper, the writing I couldn't make out. Then, my vision zoomed in and repeated the action of him pulling the paper out._

_Wait-what? It's never done this before. Again, the action repeated zooming in a little more. What did it want me to see? I squinted my eyes, 'Look past the paper…' Then, it repeated a final time. This time, I saw what I needed to see. The moment I laid eyes on it, light pulled me out of the dream._

I sat up in bed, drenched in cold sweat. I threw my covers off and ran over to my dresser, pulling the bottom open the drawer.

The dagger! The old man had the dagger! Down to the last detail, they were identical. I ran my finger along the blade. _Think Passion, what did they say about the dagger during the contest? _I hadn't been paying very much attention at that moment in time, mostly because there had been a hot guy standing several feet away from me. _Uhh, it was one of a kind and really old. And? Something else... I'll ask the others next time I see them._ I told myself. There was something very strange about this object; it had found its way to me and was even in my dream. Just like the Keyblade... Were these two items linked somehow?

"RINNGGG RINNGGG!" The loud buzz of my alarm clock caught me off guard, so I dropped the dagger. It hit the floor, blade up so now it was stuck.

"Oh damn it!" I shouted, slamming my fist on the button to stop the insane buzzing. Then, I bent down and attempted to pull the dagger out of the floor. It was stuck pretty deep, so I had to get a knife out of the kitchen to help work it out. "Today is going to be a long day…"

Once the knife was free from the floor, I rushed to get ready. I was glad we had to wear school uniforms; they protected me from making an outfit decision that could cause me to further stand out in this world. I quickly pulled on the uniform and styled my hair. Nothing seemed to be working with it. I glanced at the clock. I still had half an hour before I had to be outside. Did I have time? My bangs were already straight, so all I'd have to do was the rest of my hair. If I used a spell, I could keep it straight for a solid week, water or not. I decided to try a spell. I placed both my hands on my head and concentrated on turning each curl into a straight strand of hair. It took all of fifteen minutes, way more efficient than any flat iron I had used. My hair had grown a bit since I last wore it straight, but not enough to persuade me to cut it.

I ran a brush through my hair and watched as it fell perfectly into place. Then, I turned off the bathroom light and left my apartment. At the stairs of the complex, Sora and Kairi were waiting.

"Hey guys!" I called. They turned and looked at me, a curious expression dancing on their faces.

"Your hair," Sora said, "you changed it!"

"Yep," I nodded, "I straightened it this morning."

"Looks good!" Kairi complimented. I smiled.

"Thanks," I looked around, "Where's Riku?"

"He went in early today. He wouldn't say why though." Sora explained, "We should ask him when we get there."

"Which means we should hurry; we'll be late soon." Kairi said.

"Right," I responded while following Kairi down the long dirt path.

The moment we reached our first class, I could tell something would be off today. There were no seats anywhere in the classroom and all of the desks were against the wall. Kairi and Sora seemed fine with the change, but I was really confused. I sat next to them on the carpet and watched as the teacher began scribbling nonsense onto the chalkboard.

"What's going on?" I whispered to Kairi.

"We're preparing for the Fire Festival," she responded, "Today's probably going to be filled with activities relating to it."

"Oh," I said. The teacher than began explaining what we'd be doing in class today. It kind of depressed me, listening to her. The way she taught was so very similar to my other teachers, and brought back memories of Earth. Which reminded me that it was gone… I leaned back on my arms and stared at the chalkboard, not understanding a word that was up there. I couldn't make up my mind on whether I wanted to stay here longer and learn, or just ditch school altogether and investigate the dagger. If we had holidays off, I could investigate then instead of celebrating. But, would that be culturally insulting? _I'll make up my mind tonight,_ I promised myself. Now, I needed to pay attention in class.

_**Later**_

It was last period again. Gym. Augh. I stood with Kairi at our lockers.

"We're using this today," Kairi said while holding up the school swimsuit. "Wear it with these shorts and this tank."

"Alrighty… These right?" I asked, pulling out the matching items. Kairi nodded and smiled.

"I'm really excited to swim today; the well is probably really full after that storm." Her smile suddenly faded, "You can swim, right? I've heard of some people who can't and it's okay if you-"

"No worries. I'm a good swimmer." I assured her while beginning to change. "I used compete at it. My average place was second, anyway." Her smile returned.

"That's great! Then, we should be on the same relay team today! Selphie, Sayo and I need one more person so we have a team."

"Sweet." I coolly responded. With that, we were ready and exited the locker rooms.

In the gym there was already a crowd of students prepared to leave. We joined Sora, Riku, and Wakka in the group. After a few moments, the Coach came and led us outside. Mild conversation followed as we hiked up a dirt path onto a hill near the school. On top of this hill was a pool-ish thing. It was dug into the ground and appeared very deep in the center. Probably more than twenty-five feet, I guessed. The shape was rectangle-ish and it was obviously made hastily by people. As everyone stripped down to their suits, the Coach walked over to me.

"So, Passion eh? Can you swim?"

"Yep." I responded.

"So, you won't be drownin' on us here?"

"Probably not."

"Well, let's see what ya got. I don't wanna take any chances." He gestured toward the shallow end. "Jump in and I wanna see ya tread water. Everyone else, start warmin' up!" I nodded and walked over to the edge of the pool. The water looked warm enough, so I jumped in and started treading. After about thirty seconds, he told me I could stop. Next, he wanted me to swim a lap. I nodded and go into position. "You know the outfits don't allow any magic. You sure you're up for this?"

"Just tell me when to start."

"Ready… Set… Go!" The moment I heard go, I was off. I was just glad no one else was watching. It had been a year since my last race and I was pumped. I easily cut through the water doing free style. When I got close to the other wall, I did a perfect flip turn and resurfaced, going strong. In no time, I had completed my lap.

"Pretty good, " the Coach scoffed, "How long you been swimmin'?"

"Competitively since I was about five or six."

"Wowee. Do a lot of your people swim?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. I shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess?" I responded, "It depends who you are though. Some people never learn how to swim. My mom-" My voice broke, suddenly overcome with homesickness. "Uhh I mean, my mom taught me when I was a few month old."

"Ahh." He murmured, "Well, I'll have you participate in a few relays then. Do you have a team?" I nodded and smiled.

"Yep! Kairi asked me to join hers earlier."

"Alright then. I'll write you in here. You'll be swimming the last leg, which I think should be okay. Its girls versus girls, then boys versus boys. We have the winners from each division compete against each other, boys versus girls' thing. Uhh so far, the guys usually win. But, we've got some pretty tough lady swimmers, so don't expect it to be easy."

"Of course. Thank you very much." I said as I exited the pool. Kairi and her team had just finished a jog and were stretching. I quickly joined them. All of the boys were on the other side of the pool, so I guessed it was a rule or something that we stay separate for now. Kairi, Sayo, and Selphie were doing the common v-stretch. I sat across from Kairi in the circle.

"To the left!" she called. I reached for my left foot, laying the rest of my body completely on my leg, nose touching the cement.

"Wow Passion! You sure are flexible!" Selphie exclaimed while struggling to touch her toe.

"It runs in my family, " I said, "All of my siblings are the same way."

"Middle!" Kairi said. I folded down, resting on the ground with each hand touching a foot.

"You're just as good as Abysia." Sayo said, "Maybe we'll beat her group this time."

"I hope so." Kairi nodded, sitting up from her stretch. "I'm not too fond of her…"

"Is she really good?" I asked, glancing at the area she sat at. Abysia and her group were trying to get the guy's attention and, of course, they were successful. _I doubt they should be much of a threat…_

"Yeah! Abysia's one of our top swimmers. So are Sayo, Remie, and Tera."

"Tera's on Abysia's team, right?" I asked, recognizing her as the red head to Abysia's right.

"Yeah," Kairi said, "Her team usually beats us. Leina used to be our fourth leg, but she transferred schools a few weeks ago, so we couldn't compete. But now, we can! Haha!"

"Even if we don't win, it's okay." Sayo quickly said, "I'm just glad to compete."

"_I_ just want to watch the guys swim," Selphie said, "They're soo hot!!" I smiled.

"I second that." I said. Kairi and Sayo nodded.

"It's not worth it without the guys." Kairi said. Selphie suddenly turned and grabbed my hands.

"Back where you came from, what were the guys like?" Her eyes widened and…twinkled?!

"Uh they were okay?? It depends. Celebrities were mega hot, but the guys at my school were only so-so. Honestly, about 98 were unfortunate looking."

"So, how many boyfriends did you have?"

"Oh tons." I said, nearly drooling with sarcasm.

"Reallyyy???" Selphie exclaimed.

"Of course not."

"Why? Is it against your custom?"

"Nope. Guys just don't like me that way." I laughed, "I'm just not, you-know enough."

"Not really."

"I didn't have the American Girl look they always seemed to want. Blonde hair, blue eyes; that sort of thing. Or, if they were the 'scene' type, I wasn't scene enough."

"Scene?" Kairi asked.

"It was an underground style gone mainstream, kinda because of myspace and emo music. Short, angled hair cuts; tight pants; and band tees."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Selphie said. I laughed.

"Basically, the guys I liked never liked me back 'cause there was always something better. But, what can you do, you know?" I shook my head, "How about you guys?"

"Nope, I haven't had a boyfriend." Kairi said.

"Me either, but I can imagine how romantic It would be." Selphie sighed, suddenly getting a 'far away' look.

"I'm too shy," Sayo said, "I like this guy, but I can't seem to talk to him."

"Is he here?" I asked, "Or wait, is it a secret?"

"Oh no, I can tell you. See that guy over there, with the black hair?" She sneakily pointed at Riyuno's team. The black haired guy, Kaine I think, was laughing at something Riyuno said. He was pretty attractive and, like all the guys, definitely built. "He's really nice and funny. But we're just friends."

"Bummer." I said, "You could get him, I think." Sayo laughed.

"I wish, I wish." Soon, Kaine looked up and waved in our direction. Sayo waved back.

"See?" I said, "At least he notices you. That's a step in the right direction." She smiled.

"Maybe."

"ALRIGHT LADIES!" Coach yelled, "In heat one are teams one through four! Heat Two are teams five through seven! The winners of each heat will then compete against each other! I want all girl teams in the water for a five minute warm-up!" At once, the girls were scrambling into the water.

"What team are we?" I asked Kairi.

"Team seven, we're in Heat Two."

"Alright, so do we just watch after warm up?" She nodded and jumped into the pool. I did the same. Warming up was easy; we only did a lap each. After everyone was out, the teams lined up. I watched, attempting to grasp the swimming style here. It looked as if everyone used freestyle, which was good news to me. Each swimmer completed two laps and as soon as they tagged the wall, the next person would dive in. I didn't see anyone doing flip turns; they just tagged the opposite wall and continued.

"So, we have to touch the other wall, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, otherwise it's a DQ. You can touch it with either your foot or hand." Selphie explained.

"Oh," I said. _That's good; I'll just do a flip turn… _Almost as soon as it started, the racing was over. Abysia's team won by nearly four seconds. It looked as if she was the last leg, which was just grand for me. I sighed inwardly as we set up. Coach blew his whistle and Kairi dived in. She was pretty good; only one team was ahead of us so far. Next was Selphie, who was slightly slower. We were quickly put into last place, nearly a lap behind the person in the lead. As Sayo took over, I could see why she was 'one of the best'. She was able to bring up the slack and was soon only ½ a lap behind. My turn…

I watched as her hand touched the wall and I was off. My dive was decent and helped me increase my speed. In no time, I was doing my flip turn. As I continued through the lap, I saw I was ahead of the other swimmer. Just like that, my race was over. We were about five seconds ahead of the other swimmer. _Sweet, _I thought as I got out of the water.

"We're gonna beat Abysia!!" Selphie whispered excitedly as we stood in a huddle.

"What was that thing you did between laps?" Sayo asked me, "It really sped you up!"

"It's called a 'flip turn'. I can show you how to do one later, if you want. They're really easy…"

"Really?" her eyes brightened, "I would love that."

"Alright! I want to see teams three and seven ready! Get set, ladies!" Coach exclaimed.

"Good luck, Kairi!" I said as she took her place. As she took off, it was obviously neck and neck; both swimmers tagged the walls at the same time. Selphie and the next swimmer, a girl I didn't know, leapt into the air, gently splashing into the water. The other swimmer quickly passed Selphie, putting us half a lap behind. Next was Sayo against Tera. Sayo kept her place and caught up to Tera fast, evening us up. _Looks like it's up to you now…_ Sayo tagged the wall and shot out. Abysia and I were about the same speed, but my flip turn put me a few seconds ahead. I focused and pushed myself, moving a little faster and farther ahead of Abysia. I tagged the wall nearly three seconds ahead of her.

"We won!!" Selphie exclaimed, jumping up and down. I climbed out of the pool and was immediately greeted by my teammates. We embraced in a circle and celebrated our victory.

"Great swim, ladies!" Coach shouted while glancing at his stopwatch. "We've got a new class record by one second." He blew his whistle. "All guys in the water to warm up!" The guys, who had been watching from the opposite pool side, all entered the water. My team and I walked to the grassy area to dry off.

After we chatted a bit, I noticed Abysia was glaring daggers at us. There wasn't much I could do about that, though. She was going to be one of those people who always hated me. Soon, the boys were finished warming up and we walked to the poolside to watch. There were nine boys' teams; the first five were swimming while the last four stretched/waited. Riku and Sora's team were in the second heat, along with Riyuno's. The first heat didn't interest me much, because I didn't know any of the guys swimming. Some team or another won, and then the second heat's guys got ready.

There was quite a bit of tension in the air as the guys took their positions. It was Sora against Gabe. Gabe was much, much bigger than Sora, but Sora looked very confident as he dove into the water. He was nearly half a lap ahead of Gabe in no time. After Sora was Wakka, who kept Sora's pace and the team's lead. However, the next swimmer of the team, Tidus, was very slow. Quickly Riyuno's team passed them, tagged the wall, and Riyuno dove in. Four seconds later, Tidus tagged the wall and Riku dove in. In no time, Riku had caught up to Riyuno. The race was drawing to an end and it looked very close. They tagged the wall at what appeared to be the exact same time.

"Tie!" Coach declared. Both boys glared at each other from their lanes as the other teams tagged in.

"That was intense!" Selphie whispered loudly.

"Yeah…" I said, "Pretty darn spiffy."

"Alright teams! I want the girls vs. both of the guys teams! Get in position!" Coach yelled. Kairi gulped.

"Well, it's okay if we don't win…" she muttered to me while we walked to get in line. "I mean, what matters is that we beat Abysia…"

"Pshht. What are you saying?" I began, "We'll totally kick their asses-" I was cut off by a loud bell from the school.

"Damnit." Coach shouted, "Everyone back to the school! Class is over, we'll continue this after the break! HAVE A GREAT FIRE FESTIVAL!" On that note, all the students quickly gathered their towels and took off toward the school.

"Oh poo." I pouted as I walked back with Riku, Kairi, and Sora. "We were looking forward to beating you two."

"Uh huh," Riku sarcastically said, "Good luck with that one."

"No need for luck when you've got major skillage." I said, making 'the face'. The face was my infamous 'your mom' face, when I tilted my shin downward, furrowed my brow, and pressed my lips together in a grin. Riku raised one eyebrow.

"Major skillage?" He smiled, "We'll see about that..." He then scooped me up and began carrying me the rest of the way to school.

"Ahh! You're taking advantage of my shortness!" I exclaimed. He continued smiling.

"I'd like to see you pick me up. So much for skillage." he said.

"I could totally pick you up if you were my size."

"But, I'm not."

"Yeah… well you know what." I muttered. He set me down as soon as we neared the entrance to the school.

"No, I don't. What?"

"…I still have more skillage."

"I can bench press twice my weight."

"Fine. You win." I glared. Riku let out a small laugh.

"It's alright. You're pretty good… You know, for a girl and all."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I said, pushing open the door. We entered the gym, about to part for the locker rooms.

"I'm just teasing you."

"I know."

"So, later do you want to come over so I can prepare you for the Fire Festival?"

"Oh, yes please. I don't want to be completely lost. What time?"

"Well, directly after school I have to do something. Is seven good?"

"Yeah! That's perfect. See you then!" I smiled and waved as we parted our ways at the locker rooms. Quickly, I changed out of my bathing suit into dry clothes, got my stuff, and walked home with Kairi. On the way, we softly spoke about the raft and I told her useless, general facts about other worlds. Although they were (to me) quite simple, she seemed very interested and happy to learn. It was a relief to ramble on and on about people I knew, places I loved, things I hadn't actually had time to think about. But, it ended all too soon as we reached my apartment. We said our good bye's for the weekend, because I knew I wouldn't see her again until that Monday (Or whatever day they called it).

**Six Hours Later**

I sat at my desk and continued working hard on my communicator. Mechanically, it was in perfect condition. The only explanation as to why it wasn't working would have been no service, which didn't make much sense. I always assumed it received service everywhere… Then again, this world was pushed to a corner where I hadn't even begun to explore. The stars were unfamiliar, except for Orion's Belt, so maybe this was uncharted territory.

"Meh, fuck it." I said, putting the device back into my drawer, "I'll get it working sooner or later." I pushed out the wooden chair I had been sitting in and walked toward the door to slip on my shoes. I grabbed my purse off the glass coffee table on my way out of the door, which I closed and locked with my only key.

Outside, it was still very bright and very much hot. I started on the dirt path to Riku's house. When I was in sight of the house, I saw Riku just entering through the door. As he started to close it behind him, he looked over his shoulder and saw me. I smiled and quickened my pace up the steps. He held the door open, welcomed me in, and smiled.

"Right on time." he murmured, "If you'll give me a second, I'm going to go change."

"Alrighty!" I responded, "I'll wait in here?" I gestured toward the living room. He nodded.

"That's fine." Then, he began walking up the stairs to his room. I walked down the hall and into his living room, plopping down on the very same couch I had sat on when I first landed on the island. There were a few books on the coffee table this time. I picked one up and read the title, _Myths and Legends of the Heart_.

"Hmm…" I began flipping through the pages and found that one page had a bookmark in it. This page had a picture of the Paupo fruit! _Hadn't Riyuno bought something with that in it? _I though to myself, _Oh yeah, that's right. And Riku got upset when I asked him about it. _Ever curious, I flipped to the next page. My reading was interrupted as I heard Riku walking down the stairs. Carefully, I closed the book and set it back down on the coffee table just as he entered the room.

"Okay," he said while sinking down onto the couch, "Where to start…" He reached onto the table and fumbled with the remote for a minute, before turning on what resembled a TV. "I guess we can watch a bit of what my mom filmed from last year."

"Yay!" I said and clasped my hands together. He smiled and began to select some options that appeared on the screen.

"The first bit is of the dinner, then the tournament, and lastly the dance." As the video began to start, the sun began to set outside. The movie was very cute; I recognized most of the people in it and the locations that it was shot in. The audio was a bit difficult to make out, but I did my best to understand what was going on. When it ended, it was fairly dark out.

"Oh," Riku murmured.

"Oh?" I asked.

"I know who that kid was talking about the other day," He paused, "The kid Sora beat?"

"Yeah? He was in there? Which one?"

"During the prelim; Sora knocked him out in one hit. The kid was from another part of the island and supposedly better than me."

"Oh, you mean the huge one?"

"Yeah, I didn't notice that fight because it had gone by so quickly."

"The big fella' looked sick." I said, "Maybe he told his brother Sora cheated to take him down?"

"I guess so. Wow, Sora's in a lot of trouble this time."

"Yeah," I nodded, "You'd better look after him."

"Of course," Riku said, "He'd be doomed without me, anyway." We laughed and suddenly the front door opened.

"Riku! I'm home." his mother called while walking into the room and setting her bags down. She greeted me before collapsing into a chair. "Work was so very stressful today; I had to help over thirty clients today, all who think they have the most severe problems and deserve to be first." She rolled her eyes, "I'll tell you, never work as a doctor. If you fix the problem, you didn't do it fast enough. If you can't fix the problem, you're not trying hard enough." She shook her head. "So, what're you two up to?"

"Riku was helping me learn more about the Fire Festival. so I don't feel lost." I explained.

"Did he tell you what we're doing this year?" she smirked. I shook my head and Riku rolled his eyes.

"Is Grandma visiting again?" he meekly asked.

"Nope!" she exclaimed, "Even better!"

"Oh no, we're not-"

"Going to visit relatives! Of course!" she exclaimed and clapped her hands. It was funny to see how easily his mom went from tired to excited. I smiled and studied her character. She was decently young, probably in her early 40s, late 30s, and very, very beautiful. I wondered who his father was because I had yet to meet him. _Better not ask, _I wisely decided, _It could be complicated…_

"Oh fun." he replied, pressing his lips together and raising his eyebrows.

"Passion, would you like to join us? It would give you a change to see more of the mainland." she asked.

"I don't want to intrude on anything-" I started.

"Don't worry about it." Riku said, "I'm sure everyone would want to meet you. It'd make them feel special."

"Why yes, they'd love it! I spoke to Uncle Tanki about your arrival and he seemed very excited. Oh and Grandma, she'd love to meet you. She's…" his mom began to go on and on about every family member.

"Help me." Riku silently mouthed to me. I nodded.

"I'd love to come," I said, "If it'd mean that much to everyone?"

"Sweet! That's awesome. I can't wait to call and tell everyone. Sari will be so ecstatic!" His mother laughed whole heartedly and walked off into the kitchen where her phone was. Riku and I sat alone, once again.

"Well…" he said, glancing up at me.

"This should be fun!" I smiled, not wanting to make this situation any more awkward than it needed to be.

"I'm sorry that my mom's so pushy, you don't have to go…" he began muttering.

"Like I said, I'd love to go. It'll give me something to do. Plus," I said, "I'd love to meet the rest of your family." Riku shook his head.

"You say that now, but don't come crying to me when they attack you."

"No worries," I laughed, "I'm sure I'll be able to handle them."

"Uh huh…" he said. Riku's mother soon reentered the room with details about the trip for tomorrow. She explained that the train would leave tonight, around midnight. That meant I had to go home, change into pajamas, and pack a day bag for the trip. We'd sleep on the train and arrive at 8 am. From the station, we'd be picked up by her brother and then tour that part of the island. I nodded when she finished. Riku offered to walk me home to get my stuff, and we left shortly. I could tell already it was going to be a long weekend.

To be Continued

LOL wow. I haven't updated in FOREVER. I swear I will finish this… Ohh and I decided to change up the plot! Woot woot… Sorry, it means the main KH plot will be in a few more chapters… No worries, I've already written some of that. Hahah.


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